Ecology and Evolution of reef corals; Coral reef community structure; Species diversity and community structure of corals; Life history strategies of reef corals and their associated fauna; Effects of environmental stress on anthozoan reproduction; Sex change in corals; Hormonal influences on anthozoan reproduction Competitive networks and space partitioning within coral populations; The role of boring organisms in bioerosion of coral reefs; Effects of oil-pollution on coral- reef communities; Effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on coral reef communities; Conservation ecology and management of coral reef nature reserves; Biologically active compounds derived from coral-reef organisms in search for new drugs; Global climatic changes and its effect on coral-reef communities; Coral bleaching; Coral diseases.

                       Thesis title

Population dynamics and life history strategies in Red Sea soft corals.

Bioerosion rate of corals by boring bivalves: A chemical approach.

Physiological mechanisms involved in the reproduction of Anthozoa.

                               Thesis title

Quantitative characteristics of stony corals, soft corals and algae in the northern Gulf of Eilat ( Red Sea ).

On the reproduction of Stylophora pistillata (Esper) and harmful effects of oil pollution on its population.

Yechiam Schlesinger

Effects of phosphate pollution on the community structure of the holothurians Actinopyga bannwarthi and Synapta maculata.

Spatial heterogeneity in branching corals and fish species diversity.

Competition and space partitioning among Trapezia species within the coral Stylophora pistillata .

Esther Kramarsky -

Winter

Life history strategy of the bivalve Lithophaga purpurea boring in the coral Cyphastrea chalcidicum.

Reproductive and settlement strategy of the boring bivalve Lithophaga purpurea in living corals.

Aggressiveness in stony corals: Is it competition for space?

Predation and life history strategies of the coral predatory snail Drupella cornus.

Sclerochrondogical aspects of hermatypic corals (genus: Porites) in the Gulf  of Eilat.

Surface structural complexity and its influence on ecological indices of aquatic communities.

Tamar Liberman

Possible benefits to the coral Stylophora pistillata from the association with the fish Dascyllus marginatus

Bioerosion of the coral reef by parrotfish

(Co-supervisor: B. Lazar , Hebrew University ).

The scleractinian coral Oculina patagonica : A new invader to the Mediterranean sea, biological and ecological aspects.

Photoinhibition in shallow water colonies of Stylophora pistillata as measured in situ. (Co-supervisor Sven Beer )

Environmental factors influencing the chronic bleaching of the Mediterranean stony coral Oculina patagonica .

Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH) reveals the fireworm Hermodice carunculata as a reservoir and a possible vector for the coral pathogen Vibrio shiloi  (Co-supervisor-E. Rosenberg ).

Deterioration Index (DI): a suggested tool for monitoring reef-coral community health.

(Co-supervisor- A. Abelson).

Reproductive cycle of Palythoa sp. at Eilat, Red Sea.

(Co-supervisor- Y. Benayahu).

Nematocysts' toxins of the Mediterranean sea-anemone Aiptasia diaphana and their role in external digestion.

Molecular characteristics of the bleaching phenomenon of the Mediterranean stony coral Oculina patagonica .

Ecology of Lessepsian mussels invading the Mediterranean

(Co-supervisor- Y. Benayahu TAU)

Community structure of deep (50 m ) scleractinian corals in Eilat, Red Sea .

Trophic biology of Scleractinian planulae

(Co-supervisor- A. Shemesh, Weitzman Institute).

Sclerochronology of bleached and non-bleached corals.

(Co-supervisor- A. Shemesh, Weitzman Institute).

The re-morphogenesis Process in Fungia granulosa: Research and Application

Omri Bronstein

Morphological and molecular aspects of sea urchins (genus Echinometra)from Okinawa, Zanzibar and Eilat

Host – symbiont relationship in apo-symbiotic colonies of the Mediterranean coral Oculina patagonica (Co-supervisor M. Fine, Bar Ilan University).

Scleractinian coral community in the northern Gulf of Eilat (Red Sea): Effects of a coral disease and a storm

Itzhak Hoskin

Life history strategies of fungiid corals

Bleaching of the coral Oculina patagonica : role of bacteria in coral health and disease (Co-supervisor- E. Rosenberg)

Fluorescence in shallow vs. deep water corals

                 Y. Loya and R. Klein "Coral Reefs" (1994).320pp (in Hebrew).

     Ministry of Defence. The publishing House

                                                                        

Y.Loya, L.B. Slobodkin (1971). The coral reefs of Eilat (Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea).

Proc. Zool. Soc. London 28: 117-140.

Y. Loya (1972). Community structure and species diversity of hermatypic corals at Eilat, Red Sea.

Mar. Biol., 13: 100-123.

Y. Loya (1975). Possible effects of water pollution on the community structure  of Red Sea corals.

Mar. Biol., 29: 177-185.

Y. Loya (1976a). The Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata is an r-strategist. Nature, 259: 478-480.

Y. Loya (1976b). Recolonization of Red Sea corals affected by natural catastrophes and man-made perturbations. Ecology, 57: 278-289.

Y. Loya (1976d). Skeletal regeneration rate in a Red Sea scleractinian coral population.

Nature, 261: 490-491.

Y. Loya (1978). Plotless and transect methods. In: Monographs on Oceanic Methodology.

Coral Reefs: Research Methods. D R. Stoddart and R.E. Johannes (eds.). UNESCO Press, 5: 197-218.

Bradbury R.H., Y. Loya (1978). A heuristic analysis of spatial patterns of  hermatypic corals at Eilat, Red Sea. Amer. Natur., 112: 439-507.

Y. Loya , B. Rinkevich (1979). Abortion effects in corals induced by oil-pollution.

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 1: 77-80.

Rinkevich B., Y. Loya (1979). The reproduction of the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata.

I.Gonads and planulae. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 2: 133-144.

B. Rinkevich & Y. Loya (1979).The reproduction of the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata. II. Synchronization in breeding and seasonality of planulae shedding. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 2: 145-152.

Loya Y., B. Rinkevich (1980). Effects of oil pollution on coral reef communities.

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 2: 167-180.   

Y.Loya, G. Bull and M. Pichon. (1984). Tumor formations in scleractinian corals.

Helgol. wiss. Meeres., 37: 99-112.

L. Muscatine, L.R. McCloskey and Y. Loya (l985).A compare ison of the growth rates of zooxanthellae and animal tissue in the Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata Fifth Int. Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, 6:119-123.

Y. Schlesinger, Y. Loya (l985). Coral community reproductive patterns: Red Sea versus the Great Barrier Reef.  Science, 228: 1333-1335.

R. Klein, Y. Loya, G. Gvirtzman, P.S. Isdale and M. Susic (l990).Seasonal rainfall in the Sinai desert during the late Quaternary inferred from fluorescent bands in fossil corals.

Nature, 345: l45-l47.

Y. Loya (l990). Changes in a Red Sea Coral Community Structure: A Long-Term Case History Study.

In: The Earth in Transition: Patterns and Processes of Biotic Impoverishment, G.M. Woodwell (ed.),

Cambridge University Press, pp. 369-384.

B. Lazar, Y. Loya (l99l).Bioerosion of coral reefs - a chemical approach.

Limnol. and Oceanog., 36: 377-383.

N.E. Chadwick, Y. Loya (l992). Migration, habitat use and competition among mobile fungiid corals in the Gulf of Eilat, Red Sea. Mar. Biol. ll4: 6l7-623.

A. Abelson, T. Miloh and Y. Loya (l993). Flow patterns induced by substratum and body morphology of benthic organisms and their role in determining food particle availability.

Limnol. and Oceanog., 38: lll6-ll24.

A. Abelson, D. Weihs and Y. Loya (1994). Hydrodynamic impedance to settlement of marine propagules

and trailing filament solutions Limnol. and Oceanogr., 39: 164-169.

N. Shashar, T. Feldstein, Y. Cohen and Y. Loya (1994). Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) on a coral reef, Coral Reefs, 13: 171-174.

A. Abelson, Y. Loya (1995). Cross scale patterns of particulate-food acquisition in marine benthic environments. Amer. Natur., 145: 848-854.

A. Lotan, L. Fishman, Y. Loya and E. Zlotkin (1995). Delivery of nematocyst toxin.

Nature, 375: 456-457.

A. Kushmaro, Y. Loya, M.Fine and E. Rosenberg (1996).Bacterial infection and coral bleaching.

Nature, 380: 396.

A. Kushmaro, E. Rosenberg, M. Fine and Y. Loya (1997). Bleaching of the coral Oculina patagoniaby Vibrio AK-1. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.147:159-165.

E. Kramarsky-Winter, M. Fine and Y. Loya (1997). Coral polyp expulsion.

Nature, 387:137

U. Oren, B. Rinkevich and Y. Loya (1997). Oriented intra-colonial transport of 14C labeled materials during coral regeneration. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 161:117-

Y. Shlesinger, T. L. Goulet & Y. Loya (1998). Reproductive patterns of scleractinian corals in the northern

Red Sea. Mar. Biol. 132:691-701.

U. Oren, I. Brickner and Y. Loya (1998). Prudent sessile feeding by the corallivore snail Coralliophila violacea on coral energy sinks. Proc. Roy. Soc .Biol. Sci., 265:2043-2050.

  L. Stone, A. Huppert, B. Rajagopalan and Y. Loya (1999). Mass coral reef bleaching: a recent outcome of increased El-Nino activity? Ecology Letters 2:325-330.

U. Oren, Y. Benayahu, H. Lubinevsky and Y. Loya (2001). Colony integration during regeneration in the stony coral Favia favus. Ecology, 82: 802-813.

Y. Loya, K. Sakai, K. Yamazato, Y. Nakano, H. Sembali, and R. van Woesik (2001). Coral bleaching: the winners and the losers. Ecology Letters, 4:122-131.

M. Fine, H. Zibrowius and Y. Loya (2001). Oculina patagonica : a non- lessepsian scleractinian coral invading the Mediterranean Sea. Mar. Biol. 138: 1195-1203.

O. Choresh, E. Ron and Y. Loya (2001). The 60-kDa Heat Shock Protein (HSP60) of the sea anemone Anemonia sulcata: a potential early warning system for monitoring environmental changes.

Mar. Biotech. 3: 501-508.

M. Fine, Y. Loya (2003). Alternate competitive superiority during coral bleaching. Mar. Biol. 142: 989-996.

Y. Loya, E. Kramarsky-Winter (2003). In situ eutrophication caused by fish farms in the northern Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba) is beneficial for its coral reefs: a critique. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 261:299-303.

Rosenfeld, A. Shemesh and Y. Loya (2003) Implication of water depth on stable isotope composition and skeletal and density banding. Coral Reefs, 22: 337-345.

Y. Loya (2004). The coral reefs of Eilat- past, present and future: Three decades of coral community structure studies. In: Coral Reef Health and Disease; Rosenberg and Loya (Eds).

Springer-Verlag; Berlin Heidelberg, New York. pp. 1-34.

Y. Loya, H. Lubinevsky, M. Rosenfeld and E. Kramarsky-Winter (2004). Nutrient enrichment caused by in situ fish-farms is detrimental to coral reproduction. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 49: 344-353

Y. Loya, M. Rosenfeld and E. Kramarsky-Winter (2005). Nutrient enrichment and coral reproduction: empty vessels make the most sound (response to a critique by B. Rinkevich). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 50: 114-118

Y. Nozawa, Y. Loya (2005). Genetic relationship and maturity state of the allorecognition system affect contact reactions in juvenile scleractinian corals. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 286:115-123

N. Shenkar, M. Fine and Y. Loya (2005). Size matters: - bleaching dynamics of the coral Oculina patagonica. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 294: 181-188.

D. Kelman, Y. Kashman, E. Rosenberg, A. Kushmaro and Y. Loya (2006).Antimicrobial activity of Red Sea corals.  Mar. Biol. 149: 357–363

I. Brickner, U. Frank, U. Oren, and Y. Loya (2006). Energy integration between the solitary polyps of the clonal coral Lobophyllia corymbosa. Jour. of Exp. Biol. 209: 1690-1695

N. Shenkar, M. Fine, E. K. Winter and Y. Loya (2006). Population dynamics of zooxanthella during a bacterial bleaching event. Coral Reefs, 25: 223–227

M. Rosenfeld, A. Shemesh R. Yam and Y. Loya (2006). 18O record of Porites spp. corals during the 1998-bleaching event in Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 314: 127–133

L. Reshef, O. Koren, Y. Loya, I. Zilber-Rosenberg and E. Rosenberg (2006). The Coral probiotic hypothesis, Environ. Microbiol. 8:2068-2073

G. Winters, S. Beer and Y. Loya (2006). In situ measured seasonal variations in Fv /Fm of two common Red Sea corals. Coral Reefs 25:593-598

T.D. Ainsworth, E. Kramasky–Winter, Y. Loya, O. Hoegh-Guldberg and M. Fine (2007). Coral Disease Diagnostics: What’s between a plague and a band? Appl. Environ. Microb. 73: 981-992

Y. Loya (2007). How to influence environmental decision makers? The case of Eilat (Red Sea) coral reefs. Jour. Exp .Mar. Biol. Ecol. 73: 35-53

O. Choresh, A. Azem and Y. Loya (2007). Over-expression of highly conserved mitochondrial 70-kDa heat-shock protein in the sea anemone Anemonia viridis. Jour. of Thermal Biol. 32: 367–373

A. Zvuloni, Y. Artzy-Randrup, L. Stone, R. van Woesik and Y. Loya (2008). Ecological size-frequency distributions: how to prevent and correct biases in spatial sampling Limno. and Oceanog. : Methods. 6: 144-15

N. Shenkar, Y. Zeldman and Y. Loya (2008). Ascidian recruitment patterns on an artificial reef in Eilat (Red Sea). Biofouling 1-2:119-128.

Harel M, Ben Dov E, Rasoulouniriana D , Siboni N , Kramarsky-Winter E, Loya Y. Barak Z WiesmanZ and Kushmaro A. (2008). A new Thraustochytrid, strain Fng1, isolated from the surface-mucus of the hermatypic coral Fungia granulosa FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 1-10.

Assaf Zvuloni, Rachel Armoza-Zvuloni1 and Yossi Loya (2008). Structural deformation and growth inhibition of branching corals associated with the vermatid gastropod Dendropoma maxima

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser 363:103-108.

Y. Loya and K. Sakai (2008). Bidirectional sex change in mushroom corals. 

Proc. Roy. Soc. Biol. B 275:2335-3343.

N. Shenkar Y. Loya (2008). Ecology and systematics of the ascidian fauna in the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba).

In “Aqaba-Eilat, the Improbable Gulf. Environment, Biodiversity and Preservation” Ed. F.D Por, Magnes, Jerusalem. pp 197-208.

N. Shenkar, O. Bronstein and Y. Loya (2008) population dynamics of a coral reef ascidian in a deteriorating environment. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 367:163-171.

Eugene Rosenberg , Ariel Kushmaro, Esti Kramarsky-Winter, Hudi Banin, and Yossi Loya (2008). The role of microorganisms in coral bleaching. Inter. Soc. Micr. Ecol. (ISME ) 3: 139-146.

A. Zvuloni, Y. Artzy-Randrup, L. Stone, E. Kramarsky-Winter, R. Barkan and Y. Loya (2009).

Spatio-temporal transmission patterns of black-band disease in a coral community.

Ami Schlesinger, Eliahu Zlotkin, Esti Kramarsky-Winter and Y. Loya (2009). Cnidarian internal stinging mechanism. Proc. Roy. Soc. Biol. B 276:1063-1067.

A. Schlesinger, E. Kramarsky-Winter and Y. Loya (2009). Active nematocyst isolation via nudibranchs

Mar. Biotechnol. 11:441–444.

A. Alamaru, O.Bronstein, G.Dishon and Y.Loya (2009). Opportunistic feeding by the fungiid coral Fungia scruposa on the moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita Coral reefs 28:865

E. Kramarsky-Winter, C. A. Downs, A, Downs and Y. Loya (2009). Cellular responses in the coral Stylophora pistillata exposed to eutrophication from fish mariculture . Evol. Ecol. Res. 11: 1–21.

M.Vizel, E.Kramarsky-Winter and Y.Loya (2009). Mushroom coral regeneration from a detached stalk.

Coral reefs 28:939

G.Tsagkogeorga, X. Turon, R. Hopcroft, M.-Ka Tilak, T. Feldstein, N. Shenkar Y. Loya , D. Huchon, E. Douzery and F. Delsuc (2009) An updated 18S rRNA phylogeny of tunicates based on mixture and secondary structure models BMC Evolutionary Biology (in press) .

N. Shenkar Y. Loya (2009). Non-indigenous ascidians (Phylum: Chordata, Subphylum: Tunicata) along the Mediterranean coast of  Israel Mar. Biod. Rec. doi:10.1017/S1755267209990753;Vol.2;e166;2009

A. Schlesinger, R. Goldshmid, M. G. Hadfield, E. Kramarsky-Winter and Y. Loya (2009). Laboratory culture of the aeolid nudibranch Spurilla neapolitana (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia): life history aspects.

Mar Biol 156: 753-761.

C. A. Downs, E. Kramarsky-Winter, J. Martinez, A. Kushmaro, C.M. Woodley, Y. Loya , G. K. Ostrander (2009). Symbiophagy as a Cellular Mechanism for Coral Bleaching. Autophagy 5: 211-216.

D. Kelman, Y. Kashman, R. Hill, E. Rosenberg and Y. Loya (2009). Chemical warfare in the sea: The search for antibiotics from Red Sea corals and sponges Pure Appl. Chem. 6:1113-1121.

C.A. Downs, E. Kramarsky-Winter, C. M. Woodley, A. Downs, G. Winters, Y. Loya , Gary K. Ostrander (2009). Cellular pathology and histopathology of hypo-salinity exposure on the coral Stylophora pistillata. Science Tot. Envir   407: 4838-4851.

A. Alamaru., Y. Loya, E. Brokovich , R. Yam and A. Shemesh (2009) Carbon and nitrogen utilization in two species of Red Sea corals along a depth gradient; insights from stable isotope analysis of lipids.

Geoch. and Cosmoch. Acta 73:5333-5342.

G. Winters, R. Holzman, A. Blekhman, S. Beer and Y. Loya (2009). Photographic assessment of coral chlorophyll contents: Implications for ecophysiological studies and coral monitoring.

Jour. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol . 380: 25-35.

Y. Loya , K. Sakai and A. Heyward (2009). Reproductive patterns of fungiid corals in Okinawa , Japan . Galaxea Jour. of Coral Reef Stud. 11: 119-129.

A. Zvuloni, R. van Woesik and Y. Loya (2010) Diversity Partitioning of Stony Corals

Across Multiple Spatial Scales Around Zanzibar Island, Tanzania.

PLoS ONE5(3):e9941.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009941.

N. Siboni, D. Rasoulouniriana, E. Ben-Dov, E. Kramarsky-Winter, A. Sivan, Y. Loya , O. H. Guldberg and A. Kushmaro (2010) . Stramenopile Microorganisms Associated with the Massive Coral Favia sp J. Eukaryot. Microbiol . pp.1–9

A. Schlesinger, E. Kramarsky-Winter, H. Rosenfeld, R. Armoza-Zvoloni and Y. Loya (2010). Sexual plasticity and self-fertilization in the sea anemone Aiptasia diaphana. PLoSONE 5(7):e11874. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011874

I. Brickner , Y. Loya and Y. Achituv (2010). Diverse life strategies in two coral- inhabiting barnacles occupying the same host (Cyphastrea chalcidicum), in the northern Gulf of Eilat . Jour. Exp .Mar. Biol. Ecol. 392:220-227

I. Mizrachi ,Y. Loya, M. Rosenfeld, E. Kramarski- Winter, R. Yam and A. Shemesh (2010). The stable isotope composition of newly formed skeleton in the stony coral Porites spp.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74:7021–7030

R. Armoza-Zvuloni , E. Kramarsky-Winter & Y. Loya (2011). Repeated bleaching events may result in high tolerance and notable gametogenesis in stony corals: Oculina patagonica as a model.

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser . 426:149-159

C. Mora, O. Aburto-Oropeza, A. Ayala-Bocos S. Banks … Y. Loya, et al. (2011). Global human foot print on the linkage between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in reef fishes.

PloSBio 19(4):e1000606.doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000606220

R. van Woesik, K. Sakai, A. Ganase & Y. Loya (2011) Revisiting the winners and the losers a decade a decade after coral bleaching Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser . 434:67-76

O. Polak, Y. Loya , I. Brickner and Y. Benayahu (2011). The widely distributed indo-pacific zooanthid Palythoa tuberculosa: a sexually conservative strategist. Bull. Mar. Sci 87:605-621