Orange branching Psammocora is not a coral you’ll see being hyped up in the Red Light district of coral slinging, but that will change once reefers get a good look at a neon orange branching Psammocora. Although orange encrusting and green branching varieties of various Psammocora species have been around for a decade it’s only within the last year or so that wild colonies of orange branching Psammocora have been imported with any regularity. We first heard rumors of the orange branching Psammocora from Reefkoi and Jgonz late last summer and only recently have we been able to get some pictures of what we believe two species of orange branching Psammocora.
Psammocora is a coral genus that doesn’t get much attention which is a pity really; it grows well, comes in branching, encrusting and weird shapes and it can also be orange, green or even pink. Perhaps it’s because of it’s ease of care that most reefers don’t outright discuss Psammocora. We’ve had a soft spot for this coral since we saw our first picture in The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium (page 177) which described a colony of Psammocora contigua which had hitchhiked on a piece of live rock.
The picture above appears to be an orange branching Psammocora obtusangula and the one below looks closer to Psammocora contigua, both of which were imported from Fiji. Now with Psammocora being imported in an orange branching form, of two species, and propagation of orange Psammo not far behind, perhaps we’ll start seeing the reefing community give the Psammocora coral genus a little bit more love. Thanks to Miguel and Shaun for their information and pictures.
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