Weidlich, Sabine, Keuter, Sabine, Aires, Tania, Engelen, Aschwin and Kunzmann, Andreas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9500-4332 (2025) Safe applications of ozone in tropical marine RAS: Determining impacts of elevated total residual oxidants (TRO) on Stylophora pistillata and Xenia sp. holobionts. Aquaculture . p. 743369. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.743369.

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Abstract

Ozone-aided treatment of seawater creates secondary oxidants, which can be toxic for aquaculture animals. We aimed to define safe limits of ozonation-derived total residual oxidants (TRO) for Stylophora pistillata and Xenia sp. by conducting a 96 h acute toxicity experiment. In a chronic exposure experiment we then determined the impacts of three sub-lethal levels of TRO on animal health over four weeks by monitoring respiration, net photosynthesis, photosynthetic efficiency, and three oxidative stress biomarkers (CAT, SOD, LPO). We further documented the changes in coral surface microbiomes exposed to elevated TRO with 16S rRNA amplicon gene sequence analysis. We showed that Xenia sp. is more susceptible to elevated TRO, with first mortalities occurring within 24 h at 0.188 mg L-1 and higher. In Stylophora, mortalities were observable within 24 h at 1.272 mg L−1 and after 72 h at 0.353 mg L−1 TRO. Sub-lethal TRO levels caused higher respiration and lower photosynthetic efficiency in Xenia, and increased catalase activity by 29–42 % in Stylophora and by 38–45 % in Xenia, while not impacting lipid peroxidation or superoxide dismutase activity. Microbiomes displayed TRO-induced changes in both species, with a decline in Saprospiraceae as a potential indicator for ozone-inflicted mucus layer degradation. Vibrionaceae fully disappeared from Stylophora pistillata microbiomes after 26 days of exposure to 0.131 mg L-1 TRO, suggesting ozonation as a potential tool to treat pathogens in coral aquaculture. Our study represents the first analysis of ozonation-induced impacts on coral holobionts, thereby providing a guideline for the safe application of ozone in coral cultivation.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA1
Research affiliation:	Ecology > Experimental Aquaculture
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	No
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.743369
ISSN:	00448486
Date Deposited:	10 Nov 2025 15:10
Last Modified:	10 Nov 2025 15:10
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/5922

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