 A total of seven diseases are known to afflict "C. natans", and it is one of only twenty-two coral species worldwide in which this count is higher than three.It is one of the Caribbean corals most afflicted by black band disease, and along with "Montastraea" spp., suffers from yellow-band disease.A particularly aggressive form of white plague known as WPL III has so far been documented attacking only very large colonies of "C. natans" and "Montastraea annularis".