This month our examination of described coral pigments continues with a glimpse of yellow and orange coloration, along with a listing of characteristics associated with photoconvertible fluorescence.…

In Part 1 of this series, we began our review of fluorescent pigments and also discussed the concepts of fluorescence excitation and emission, Stokes shift, photoconversion and so on. A review of that article is recommended if you are unfamiliar with any of these terms.…

Science is a journey full of surprises and the story behind the current interest in coral fluorescence and pigmentation is no less full of twists and turns. This tale is one of the reef-keeping hobby in Russia and Japan, a couple of fortuitous laboratory accidents, a revolution in biomedical research, revelations and fortunes made, discovery of a new symbiosis, as well as the small contributions of reef hobbyists from other parts of the globe.…

In retrospect, the first reef aquarium I ever saw was not much. It was in the early 1980’s, and ‘European’ technology had jumped the pond to America, revolutionizing and revitalizing the saltwater aquarium hobby.…

We often see articles in hobby literature referring to locations where corals and other photosynthetic invertebrates are collected. These articles are informative, interesting and offer a perspective of the environmental conditions required for coral growth.…

Hobbyists tend to think of corals as having homogenous rates of photosynthesis, as witnessed by categorical statements such as “SPS corals need a lot of light.” These sorts of comments are generally based on tried and true observations, and are often valid.…