Elgance corals, Catalaphyllia jardinei, come in a myriad of beautiful colors and patterns but ‘Red Elegance Coral’ has never been in our vocabulary fro this iconic coral species. However a new crop of pictures of this coral from central Indonesia might put us on the lookout for the rarest strain of this otherwise very common coral.
Observations of the red elegance coral come to us from Bali Aquarium which recently received a few specimens of this unusual color of Catalaphyllia. The red elegance coral was collected in an unusual location too, in deep waters of Sulawesi by beche-de-mer fishermen who generally dive deep for the crop, down to 25 to 35 meters (82 t0 115 feet) in calm silty bays.
YES! The majority of these photos are taken under blue-heavy LED lighting but the most intense specimen of red elegance coral actually looks brighter red under only slightly blue-filtered sunlight. But even under strong blue light the majority of the colors fade leaving only a distinctive fluorescent red color to the coral’s tissue.
If the red oral discs of these elegance coral wasn’t enough to make them standout corals, their tentacles are also more on the orange green side and quite different from the more typical blue or purple tipped elegance corals. Elegance corals are truly some of the most majestic corals that are appreciated by both novice and advanced reef keepers, and we can’t wait to see and learn more about this unique red strain and especially to see it in person for ourselves.
