Gardinoseris planulata is a coral species which we have admired for over a decade from the scant images that were then available to view in the Coral of Australia and the Indo-Pacific. Like many of our favorite corals species from the Agaricia, Pavona and Leptoseris coral genera, Gardinoseris is a member of the family Agariciidae which includes many intricately detailed stony corals.
Gardinoseris is extremely rare in the aquarium hobby even though the species was available maricultured for a time several years back. However, Gardinoseris was so poorly known then that there was an underwhelming lack of demand for the maricultured specimens and we haven’t seen one in an LFS since about 2007.
Thankfully the producers of Coral Hub and the underwater dive guide on coral ID has updated their website with an entire page on the unique Gardinoseris coral, and there’s a handful of great photos to demonstrate how unique this coral is, and how unusual it can look when grown out. If you have some experience with Gardinoseris in captivity or if you’ve seen some available more recently please share in the comments.
