Coral Warfare Question

[Dugless]

I understand the immediate damage acropora corals can sustain when more aggressive corals burn their tissue by contacting them. Would it be expected then that a colony that falls or grows into another more aggressive coral would cause the entire colony to brown due to stress caused by warfare? Or is this interaction localized to just a branch within the colony?

 

[MarcWeaver]

I have had acros fall into other acros and the damage was localized to the regions that touched. I have never had one brown out as a result, I just clipped the damaged areas off and the coral recovered quickly.

 

[Reef Bass]

Generally the damage is localized. In case of severe stings though rapid tissue necrosis of the piece can be triggered.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Depends on the species involved and what weapons they bring to the fight.

Here's one of a Green A. millepora chemically bombing a M. undata:

The Undata was originally effected on 1/2 of it's surface area only, but over the next couple weeks the damage spread to around 80% with the remaining tissue turning somewhat brown.