Turbinaria heronensis is a very unusual Australian endemic coral which has been making it into the U.S. reef aquarium hobby for a little over a year now. Turbinaria heronensis is still so rare that many if not most of the colonies being imported thus far are ending up in the hands of fraggers. So although we’ve seen plenty of fair sized frags of Turbinaria heronensis at the various marine aquarium events, it’s only recently that we’ve gotten a good look at a nice shaped colony before going under the blade.
Although most of the colonies of Turbinaria heronensis we’ve seen pictured thus far have been somewhat irregular and more branching, the beautiful Turbinaria heronensis colony we spied at Oculus Aquatics has a very unusual appearance that is halfway between a typical cup coral and the look of a branching Duncanopsammia. With its polyps retracted this colony of T. heronensis bares a resemblance to Acropora suharsonoi.
