Fireworms are a reservoir and potential vector for coral-infecting apicomplexans

Abstract

Corals (Cnidaria; Anthozoa) play critical roles as habitat-forming species with a wide range, from warm shallow-water tropical coral reefs to cold-water ecosystems. They also represent a complex ecosystem as intricate holobionts made up of microbes from all domains of the Tree of Life that can play significant roles in host health and fitness. The corallicolids are a clade of apicomplexans that infect a wide variety of anthozoans worldwide and can influence the thermal tolerance of habitat-forming corals. Despite their potentially important impacts on reef ecosystems, much of the basic biology and ecology of corallicolids remains unclear. Apicomplexans often have a closed life cycle, with minimal environmental exposure and sometimes multiple hosts. Corallicolids have only been documented in anthozoan hosts, with no known secondary/reservoir hosts or vectors. Here, we show that abundant corallicolid sequences are recovered from bearded fireworms (Hermodice carunculata) in tropical reef habitats off Curaçao and that they are distinct from corallicolids infecting the corals on which the fireworms were feeding at the time of their collection. These data are consistent with a fireworm-specific corallicolid infection, not merely a byproduct of the worms feeding on infected corals. Furthermore, we suggest that H. carunculata is potentially a vector moving corallicolids among coral hosts through its feces. These findings not only expand our understanding of the ecological interactions within coral reef ecosystems but also highlight the potential role of host-associated parasites in shaping the resilience of reef habitats.

Anthony Bonacolta

PhD Student · Now Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of British Columbia

My PhD research focused on understanding the roles of micro-eukaryotes and bacteria in marine organisms, including the coral holobiont during bleaching from a single-cell perspective.

Bradley Weiler

PhD Student · Now Postdoctoral Fellow at NOAA

My PhD research combined molecular techniques (SSU rRNA amplicon sequencing), traditional culturing and microscopy, and imaging (fluorescence in-situ hybridization) in an attempt to uncover the causative agents of various coral diseases.

Javier del Campo

Group Leader

My research aims at understanding the global diversity and distribution of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbes employing curated phylogenetic frameworks focusing on novel environmental taxa.