Kleppel,-G.S.; Dodge,-R.E.; Reese,-C.J.  Changes in 
	pigmentation associated with the bleaching of stony 
	corals.  LIMNOL.-OCEANOGR. 1989. vol. 34, no. 7, pp. 
	1331-1335.

Bleaching (loss of pigmentation) is a common response by 
corals to environmental stress. Changes in pigmentation and 
the processes that caused them were studied in Montastrea 
annularis  during a natural bleaching event off southeast 
Florida. Chlorophyll c, peridinin, and diadinoxanthin levels 
were 35, 17, and 20 times higher in normal corals than in 
bleached ones. Two processes, loss of zooxanthellae from the 
coral and loss of pigments from the remaining zooxanthellae, 
contributed to bleaching. Loss of zooxanthellar pigment 
accounted for 72% of the decrease in Chl c. The two processes 
contributed about equally to reduced carotenoid levels.