Richness and Diversity of Reef Fish in Disease-Affected Areas on Montserrat
Faculty Mentor
Paul Spruell
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-14-2026 2:00 PM
End Date
4-14-2026 4:00 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Biology
Abstract
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a marine bacterial disease that affects and kills many stony coral species. Stony corals are the main contributors to building the reefs and crucial to the survival of these ecosystems, where SCTLD now affects the island of Montserrat. How would the recently infected habitat of reef fish be affected disease prevalence? It was hypothesized that areas with SCTLD presence would experience a decrease in diversity. For this study, reef fish were enumerated to family in four coral reef environments on the west side of the island. To determine significance, the Shannon-Weiner index was implemented. Dive #1 at Woodland’s Bay had the lowest diversity and richness, with the highest richness and diversity from dive #4 at Carr’s Bay. The hypothesis was not supported because dive #3 at Rendezvous Bay was disease-affected and showed no significant difference between other sites. SCTLD was far more abundant on the east side of the island, but due to adverse weather, no dives were done there. Future studies should investigate reefs of more prevalent SCTLD around Montserrat.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, David and Bartholomew, Emma, "Richness and Diversity of Reef Fish in Disease-Affected Areas on Montserrat" (2026). 2026 Symposium. 21.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2026/ps_2026/p3_2026/21
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Richness and Diversity of Reef Fish in Disease-Affected Areas on Montserrat
PUB NCR
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) is a marine bacterial disease that affects and kills many stony coral species. Stony corals are the main contributors to building the reefs and crucial to the survival of these ecosystems, where SCTLD now affects the island of Montserrat. How would the recently infected habitat of reef fish be affected disease prevalence? It was hypothesized that areas with SCTLD presence would experience a decrease in diversity. For this study, reef fish were enumerated to family in four coral reef environments on the west side of the island. To determine significance, the Shannon-Weiner index was implemented. Dive #1 at Woodland’s Bay had the lowest diversity and richness, with the highest richness and diversity from dive #4 at Carr’s Bay. The hypothesis was not supported because dive #3 at Rendezvous Bay was disease-affected and showed no significant difference between other sites. SCTLD was far more abundant on the east side of the island, but due to adverse weather, no dives were done there. Future studies should investigate reefs of more prevalent SCTLD around Montserrat.
