It is also subject to coral diseases such as white plague and black band disease.
There is a possible link between coral diseases and an outbreak of this snail.
In general, the Great Barrier Reef is considered to have low incidences of coral diseases.
It is very susceptible to coral bleaching and coral diseases, both of which are on the increase as sea temperatures rise.
Researchers suspect a fungus is behind rapid wasting disease and various bacteria are implicated in other new coral diseases.
In order to make identification of diseases more straightforward, some researchers are trying to develop molecular tests for coral diseases.
Over twenty different coral diseases have been described, but of these, only a handful have had their causative agents isolated and characterized.
The causes for the majority of known coral diseases have not been identified.
It is of vital importance to understand the relationship between coral health and environmental factors in the study of coral disease.
Warming seawater may also encourage an emerging problem: coral disease.