A surprising conclusion was made by the Ruhr-Universität of Germany regarding the genetic diversity within a coral colony. Researchers found that genetically diverse polyps where living harmoniously within the same coral structure by studying five different species of coral and over 222 coral [...]
Smithsonian scientist Seabird McKeon, along with the museum’s predoctoral fellow Jenna Moore of the Florida Museum of Natural History, have published new research highlighting the importance of reef diversity and how symbiotic crabs can help defend against coral predators. “We found that [...]
I love Cyphastrea; it is a beautiful coral, and one that I have had great success with, but one day I realized that I had been growing it for so long that the excitement was gone. I didn’t want to stop my work with one of my favorite corals, but I knew I had to make a change. There was only one [...]
Japanese researchers are finding clues to help with the conservation of coral reef ecosystems in waters around the world by studying Acropora. Through the establishment of DNA markers, similar to DNA profiling in humans, individual corals can be accurately identified. This means that scientists [...]
For someone that loves acropora as much as I do, I sit here tonight staring at my beautiful 250 gallon mother colony system wondering how it ended up seventy five percent full of montipora colonies. When did this sneaky addiction to montipora over take my desire to keep acropora? I know that I [...]
This hardy colorful Acropora is a true captive grown coral. It has been grown from a seed fragment originally purchased from Atlantis Aquarium and all the current growth and mass was realized in artificial sea water and under artificial light. The name implies the lineage to the original captive [...]
The famous Oregon blue tort, quite possibly the bluest acropora of them all. This very old school captive grown coral (with many imposters) but we can all agree that none are as blue and as hardy as the original. This is an acropora that has been elusive for many years with only fragments of a [...]
When I travel, I like to spend at least one evening of a trip visiting a hobbyist and photographing his/her corals and fish. In 2010, I had a trip to New Orleans and made myself available to hobbyists in the area. I was able to make three visits that week. One of the hobbyists who said they’d put [...]