Branching Leptoseris gardineri is a very unusual species of this now-popular genus which we have drooled over in books and photographs for over a decade. In pictures it seems so delicate and brittle that we long relegated this species to being impossible to ship in a single piece, giving up on it as a “book coral” that we’ll only ever see from afar.
![leptoseris-gardineri-3](https://reefbuilders.com/files/2013/04/leptoseris-gardineri-3.jpg)
So imagine our delight when we spotted some really distinctive branching Leptoseris at Sea Dwelling Creatures this week and the build was not at all like we expected. Instead of being a delicate little leafy Leptoseris, branching L. gardineri is actually much larger in structure than we ever imagined, and it’s sturdy too!
![branching-gardinoseris-2](https://reefbuilders.com/files/2013/04/branching-gardinoseris-2.jpg)
A handful of branching Leptoseris gardineri made its way from Australia to SDC’s Furnace of hot corals, with a few specimens arriving in a light brown and a muted green color. At first glance the branching Leptoseris looks kind of like a wavy form of branching Pavona cactus, a species similar to ORA’s mint chip Pavona, but the surface detail reveals very few, much larger corallites that are well pronounced.
![branching-gardinoseris](https://reefbuilders.com/files/2013/04/branching-gardinoseris.jpg)
The newly imported colonies of the branching Leptoseris look like, newly imported stony coral colonies, that is a little pale and a little thin of tissue. In their current condition Leptoseris gerdineri doesn’t look like a potential showstopper, but once it’s settled in, lookout! With a few colonies to go around we very much look forward to seeing what this highly unusual coral can do in a captive aquarium ecosystem, we’ll be sure to follow up with this species. (And for those of you who like to shop SDC’s Furnace, check out T48 and S46)
![leptoseris-gardineri](https://reefbuilders.com/files/2013/04/leptoseris-gardineri.jpg)