Although A. acroporae has been found on the Great Barrier Reef, the natural origin and biogeographic range of the aquarium strains of AEFWs are unclear and no natural predators are known, making it difficult to control infestations in land-based Acropora cultures.
After co-culturing the AEFW strain with a diverse range of acroporids and fifteen other scleractinian coral species for 6 months in a separated compartment [...] the AEFWs were still exclusively found on acroporid corals. The highest to lowest host preference was as followed:
A. valida > A. millepora > A. pulchra > A. polystoma > A. yongei > A. gemmifera > A. microphthalma > A. tortuosa
The parasites appear to be rather stationary, and a single individual was observed for 5 weeks on a ~5 cm replicate colony of A. millepora before it was removed for experimental purposes. The activity of this specimen, restricted to the underside of the branch, had a significant effect on the overall physiology of the host coral, essentially preventing it to acclimatise to higher light levels.
AEFWs collected from A. pulchra show fluorescence patterns perfectly matching those of the host
isolated AEFWs without access to the host died after 5–7 [days], suggesting that the algae do not represent a significant energy source for the animals but are most likely maintained solely for camouflage purposes.
