 impacts on coral reef fishes. As a result, faster-growing species including microalgae, cyanobacteria, and fire coral are thriving in the absence of competition, spreading into the vacant spaces left by the decimated corals, offsetting the delicate balance in these ecosystems. An international effort is working to understand what is driving stony coral tissue loss disease, thought to be a waterborne pathogen, and developing potential solutions including a promising treatment involving probiotics.