It’s not too often we get excited about a new soft coral strain but this neon green devil’s hand leather coral, a Lobophytum species, is most certainly an exception to that rule. With bright green polyps and an even brighter green base, this is one devil’s hand coral which nearly all reef tanks could entertain. The base coloration of the green lobophytum can be a rich neon green like the specimen above in bright lighting but in other, dimmer conditions the dark green base helps to bring out the bright colored polyps.
The green devil’s hand was first spotted in a maricultured shipment of soft corals, probably from Pacific Aqua Farms, over a year and a half ago, and it has since grown into quite a beauty in a large 600 gallon mixed reef bow front aquarium. We have some frags of the colony pictured above and it retains a high fidelity to the green base coloration. The large colony of green devil’s hand coral above is enjoying the rich blue light of several blue led spot and striplights and ours look great under a range of blue LED striplights. We’ve since spotted the green devil’s hand Lobophytum promoted in advertisements for Pacific Aqua Farms where their specimen looks more like a shimmering green SPS than the leather coral it really is. We hope this Lobophytum strain can rekindle old reefers and turn on new reefers alike to the exquisite beauty of many soft coral species. It’s time for a softy comeback!
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