The Mother of all Cynarina lacrymalis found on the Great Barrier Reef

Ania Nerowski, our own Australian-based coral nerd, has reported to us a fantastic coral that showed up in Australia. Cynarina lacrymalis, the Button Coral, is normally a solitary, monocentric, one polyp, one mouth coral. Double or triple heads sometimes show…

Is Acropora convexa the Next Holy Grail Acro?

It’s been a while since we wrote about Australian corals but with all this down time, we finally can find the time to write about things that inspired us in our previous journeys.During our Ultra Coral Australia trips on the…

Coral Reefs are Changing in Substantial Ways

A new publication in Nature brings a very interesting insight into the current evolution of coral reefs. In this new publication, scientists describe teturning to a location on the Great Barrier Reef, where, 91 years earlier, the pioneering GBR expedition…

Paraclavarina triangularis, Another Underrated Coral Beauty

Several weeks ago, we went on an expedition through the Great Barrier Reef, with Ultra Coral Australia. We spent a week on the reef and on multiple occasions came across a fascinating coral called ‘Paraclavarina triangularis. All of us ‘Coral…

Acropora sukarnoi is Australia’s Own Elkhorn Coral

Russel Kelley, Jake Adams, Nic DosSantos and I just came back from a very productive  expedition to the Great Barrier Reef, in a collaboration between Reef Builders and Ultra Corals Australia. Using a large ocean worthy cruise vessel and four…

Who Says Australia Lacks Coral Diversity?

Going diving on a regular basis with the master collector Nic Dos Santos from Ultra Coral Australia, I’ve had the chance to see a nice cross section of the Great Barrier Reef. And if there is one thing I can…

Australia Pink Nephthea is a Soft Coral Jewel

Soft corals don’t get the attention they deserve. Maybe because they are considered beginner corals, maybe because they are not as colorful as hard corals but there are some notable exception to that. Let us guide you through one of…

Acropora spathulata is the iconic Australian Staghorn Coral

Last week, we reported about probably the most popular staghorn coral from Australia, Acropora microclados, a.k.a the Strawberry Shortcake. This time, we will tell you about another iconic Australian staghorn coral, Acropora spathulata. A problematic species? First of all, having…

You Won’t Believe Where Strawberry Shortcake Acros Live

Recently in Australia, together with Nic from Ultra Coral Australia we had the luck to go and observe Acropora microclados, aka the Strawberry Shortcake (SCC), in its natural environment. And because we’re sure most aquarist don’t realize where Strawberry Shortcake…

Is this the ‘True’ Montipora capricornis?

For so many years, we thought we saw Montipora capricornis everywhere. So many people were use that name for just any about any cup-shaped or plating Monti including M. foliosa, M. florida or M. aequituberculata was labelled a ‘Monti Cap’.…