Elegance Project update
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I am not going to revew all the posts in this thread, as I have been kept abreast of them by emails, all but three of which I have directly answered.
The status is this:
I sent over 40 of theinfected corals donated by aquarists to the International Registry for Coral Pathology in Oxford, MD. This is a service, part of the Coral Disease and Health Consortium, that logs diseased corals and then provides back sections or tissue samples to interested parties. I also sent in 30 other samples, some wild, and some aquarum, with various conditions. This entailed some 117 pages of forms, not to mention the dissection and cataloging, packing and shipping and Hazmat forms (formalin and ethanol) of all specimens prior to sending them.
Some months later, I inquired on their status and apparently there is a problem which, I believe has been cleared up, in that the corals, being unpermitted except at the original port of entry which, of course, none of the specimens had CITES documentation, and could thus not be officially entered with a specific regulation or exception from USFWS. Mitch Carl apparently had the same issue with samples he sent in from Henry Doorly Zoo.
As it stand, I stopped sending them samples, because I was not getting any responses, or sections, from any of the corals despite several emails of inquiry. I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want to lost the remaining samples in the void. Two weeks ago, I wrote an email requesting the sections or the return of the specimens so I could have them processed elsewhere.
I had received a contact at the Marine Pathology lab of Texas A&M, but they are apparently not responding to phone calls or emails. Then, I contacted my vet and asked who did their histology. They used private labs, which of course, are expensive. She suggested, and had others, that I contact Texas A&M vet school who offers histology services. I sent Rosemary Vollmar, in charge of inquires to histological service available by the T A&M veterinary lab of histopatology. The first email went unanswered. Figuring a firewall block, I resent the email. She responded saying she never got the first message. I resent it, and then followed up twice, including inquiries for a call to discuss the needs of this and other sections I need done for my own work. No responses at all. I will be calling next week. I also contaced a medical histology resource, and although they offered to do the work, it was expensive and would take a very back seat to any human pathologies ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ that is to say, every day a non-stop influx of tumors and other tissue anomalies.
I had also never received a healthy elegance coral. A local coral wholesaler, Reef Savers, got six corals in for the study, kept one last time I saw them, killed several, and then sold the other healthy ones to ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œspecial customers.ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Unbelievable! It was only several weeks ago that I finally received a healthy elegance as a fragment of a healthy colony. I am not going to process this sample until I am sure of a source for histology and timely return of specimens. But, at at least I now have two controls ready.
In spending some time at the histopathology lab in Oxford, it is apparent that there are many intracellular possibilities of pathogens present, though which are normal and which are not is unknown since I refuse to send my healthy specimens to this lab if they cannot provide samples back.
This has been a very frustrating ordeal for me. I have, to date, spent all my own money from my NSF fellowship to process the samples to date, but until I hear from the IRCP or one of these other labs, I cannot go any farther. If anyone has any ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œinsââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ or people who are willing to do histology sections (unstained is fineââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦I am staining them myself), then the project can progress. I have not spent any of the donated money because there has been nothing really to spend on except supplies I have used from the lab in the fixation and decalcification procedures. The money needs to be spent on the sectioning, and then on any tests once we see what is happening intracellularly. Fortunately, I did not send all the diseased samples off, and theys it on my lab shelf awaiting a source for histology ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ something our university and lab isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t set up to to. We have an old and nice microtome, but the parts are no longer available, and I am afraid that as thin as coral tissue is, I would waste precious tissue trying to cut a good section as this is skill that that takes much experitise and experience to do right.
So, I have neither forgotten about nor lost interest in this work. I am as excited and anxious as anyone, especially given the declining stock levels and unsustainability of the coral in the wild. Right now, my hands are tied, and if anyone can offer suggestions or has connections to get us past this seemingly simple step, I am all ears.
I again apologize for ignoring the thread, but I have not been ignoring the situation, but felt there was nothing to really report except my frustration. It is also important to restate this is an aquarium malady that most researchers are fairly uninterested in, and they are overworked and have other projects, and I am trying to sell the fact that there may be a significant ecological impact resulting from continued collections and high resultant mortality.
Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s all for now, and as soon as I reach a human offering services that they are supposed to provide, and whom actually do so, I promise that we will get a much faster and better idea of what is causing the elegance coral syndrome.