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White Band Disease (WBD) is a common tissue loss disease that affects the two Caribbean coral species: Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata. Since WBD was first described in the early 1970s, it has spread throughout the wider Caribbean and caused wide-scale regional loss of these species, even contributing to their near extinction in some areas. The loss of these coral species, whose dense branches provide an important habitat for many reef invertebrates and fish, has caused substantial restructuring of reef ecosystems affected by WBD. Photo credit: Brian Reckenbiel/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
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