Time-series dynamics in symbiont communities of acroporid corals undergoing cold stress in winter

The bleaching of corals due to cold stress has been seldom studied compared to bleaching events resulting from heat stress. We discovered an Acropora cytherea-like coral colony that underwent cold bleaching in winter at a depth of approximately 20 m in Okinawa, Japan. This main colony and eight nearby colonies with similar morphological traits were selected for study. The dynamics in the symbiont communities associated with the coral colonies during the years 2015-2016 were determined by metabarcoding.