{"609068":{"#nid":"609068","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"\u0027Coral ticks\u0027 suck the life out of degraded coral","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe last hope for degraded coral reefs is under attack. A new survey of Fiji Island reefs has revealed the significant damage being caused by small sea snails, previously ignored by marine biologists. Scientists have dubbed the tiny snails \u0026quot;coral ticks\u0026quot; because they suck the fluid from young \u003Cem\u003EPorites cylindrica\u003C\/em\u003E coral.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPorites cylindrica\u003C\/em\u003E is one the hardiest coral species and it plays an important role in the regrowth of shallow reefs -- that is if they can survive the onslaught of coral ticks. \u0026quot;Once the reefs are down and nearly out, these snails are piling on,\u0026quot; \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/mark-hay\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMark Hay\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of biological sciences at Georgia Tech, said in a news release.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2018-07-27 22:38:28","changed_gmt":"2018-07-27 22:38:28","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"Hungtang Ko","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/www.upi.com\/Science_News\/2018\/07\/26\/Coral-ticks-suck-the-life-out-of-degraded-coral\/8951532632593\/","dateline":{"date":"2018-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"600850":{"id":"600850","type":"image","title":"Mark Hay, Regents Professor and Harry and Linda Teasley Chair in the School of Biological Sciences","body":null,"created":"1516120538","gmt_created":"2018-01-16 16:35:38","changed":"1516120538","gmt_changed":"2018-01-16 16:35:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"229043","name":"MarkHay.headshot.2018.1.square1080.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MarkHay.headshot.2018.1.square1080.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MarkHay.headshot.2018.1.square1080.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":599974,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MarkHay.headshot.2018.1.square1080.jpg?itok=EJIs8Bcz"}}},"media_ids":["600850"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"178624","name":"damaged coral reefs"},{"id":"178625","name":"snails preying on coral reefs"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}