Up-Close with Bali Maricultured Euphyllia

by | Sep 10, 2015 | Conservation, Corals, Eye Candy, Industry, Science, Sustainability | 0 comments

reefs.comMariEuphyllia2One of my favorite pastimes [besides diving] is perusing through the never-ending pictures of reefs in nature. It’s hard to believe where some of our favorite corals grow, often in vastly different environments than what we create in our glass boxes. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a surge in both the aquaculture and the mariculture of coral. While some people interchange the terms freely, to me they are two unique and distinct designations: maricultured coral is farmed in the ocean; aquaculture denotes coral farmed in captivity. With social media being such an easy way to connect these days, coral farmers of all types can share their work quickly. Recently, I was talking with Bali coral farmer Endang Nilsari about some maricultured Euphyllia sp. he and his team are working with.

Endang grows all types of corals in the ocean: Acropora, Acanthastrea, Blastomussa, Echinophyllia, Euphyllia, Lobophyllia, and more. Since I have a soft spot for Euphyllia sp., these pictures of lovely mini-colonies riding the current on a metal rack in the ocean made me whimper. It came as a surprise to me that the Euphyllia pictured is grown in one of their “low water farms” at a mere 2 meters (~6-7 feet)! After mentioning that that seemed like a ton of light for this genus, Endang noted that the “special metallic” colors were grown on a “deep farm” at 8-10 meters (~26-33 feet). I’ve noted in captivity that most Euphyllia do best under moderate lighting, which to me is a couple overdriven blue T5 bulbs, or about halfway up in most reefers aquaria.

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Euphyllia ancora

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Fields of Euphyllia ancora

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Euphyllia glabrescens

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Euphyllia glabrescens

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Note the massive “Favia” hanging out beneath the racks.

We’ll be taking a look at some other maricultured corals in nature here soon, stay tuned!

  • Austin Lefevre

    Austin Lefevre founded and owns Aqua Box, a group of passionate professionals who bring unique aquarium systems to fruition worldwide and offer fully quarantined and conditioned fishes to the US retail market. Austin has been a bonafide fish nerd for his entire life. When the kids in elementary school were reading Dr. Seuss, Austin was reading Jacques Cousteau. He's been in the aquarium industry since 2002 working in local fish stores, coral farms, and headed up a fish breeding program. He's been an avid SCUBA diver since the age of 12 and consistently seeks new aquatic adventures.

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