Rapid coral bleaching recovery via symbiont transfer from healthy corals.

Coral bleaching recovery can occur within days through contact-mediated symbiont transfer from healthy corals, with population doubling times around 4 days.

• Why it matters: Rapid coral recovery is critical to prevent mortality caused by slow natural symbiont reestablishment, addressing a key gap in understanding mechanisms for swift reef resilience.
• What they did: Researchers used small coral fragments to demonstrate that symbiont transfer occurs quickly via tissue fusion during brief physical contact, with some cases requiring as little as 3 days.
• The result: This process enables full coral recovery much faster than typical field times, highlighting a natural mechanism that could inform future interventions to enhance reef resilience.