ArticleNature communications2024
Removal of detritivore sea cucumbers from reefs increases coral disease.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Extreme longevity revealed by 24-year genetic mark-recapture challenges conservation of endangered sea cucumbers.iScience · 2026Article
- Marine ecosystems in peril: Time to prepare for super El Niño.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Compartment-Specific Differentiation of Bacterial Communities in the Sea CucumberMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Bottom Grinding Increases the Phototrophic Bacteria While Reduces Bacterial Community Stability in Sea Cucumber Cultural Ponds.Environmental microbiology reports · 2026Article
- Ecosystem technology (ecotech): Harnessing natural processes to address global challenges.Science advances · 2026Review
- Sea cucumber-inspired dual-responsive black phosphorus/amorphous calcium-based bone-targeting nanoplatform for synergistic therapy of osteoporosis.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Article
- Article
- A chromosome-level genome assembly for the brown sea cucumber from the Galápagos Islands, Isostichopus fuscus.Scientific data · 2025Article
- A suite of ddPCR assays targeting microbial pathogens for improved management of shellfish aquaculture.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- How sediment granulometry affects feeding behaviour in sea cucumbers: a case study on Holothuria sanctori.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Sea cucumber grazing linked to enrichment of anaerobic microbial metabolisms in coral reef sediments.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Carotenoid-based immune response in sea cucumbers relies on newly identified coelomocytes-the carotenocytes.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of the tropical sea cucumber Stichopus monotuberculatus.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Monitoring the genetic diversity in holothurian populations from the Italian coasts with mitochondrial DNA sequences.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Sea cucumbers and their symbiotic microbiome have evolved to feed on seabed sediments.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The role of mesoscale-driven connectivity patterns in coral recovery around Moorea and Tahiti, French Polynesia.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Coral reefs are in global decline with coral diseases playing a significant role. This is especially true for Acroporid corals that represent ~25% of all Pacific coral species and generate much of the topographic complexity supporting reef biodiversity. Coral diseases are commonly sediment-associated and could be exacerbated by overharvest of sea cucumber detritivores that clean reef sediments and may suppress microbial pathogens as they feed. Here we show, via field manipulations in both French Polynesia and Palmyra Atoll, that historically overharvested sea cucumbers strongly suppress disease among corals in contact with benthic sediments. Sea cucumber removal increased tissue mortality of Acropora pulchra by ~370% and colony mortality by ~1500%. Additionally, farmerfish that kill Acropora pulchra bases to culture their algal gardens further suppress disease by separating corals from contact with the disease-causing sediment-functioning as mutualists rather than parasites despite killing coral bases. Historic overharvesting of sea cucumbers increases coral disease and threatens the persistence of tropical reefs. Enhancing sea cucumbers may enhance reef resilience by suppressing disease.
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