As a hobby that loves and appreciates live corals, all of which originate from wild coral reefs, I don’t think we are nearly in touch with what wild corals are really like. To bridge this gap we try and travel to unique reef destinations to document both the reef ecosystem as a whole, and individual coral colonies.
When someone says they have a ‘mother colony’ of X coral, just remember that most wild corals are bigger than your entire reef aquarium! If you like seeing ‘aquaristic’ photographs of wild corals do be sure and check out our previous post highlighting some of Palau’s Cryptic Corals.
The first time I saw Naso vlamingi in aquariums they were all very large specimens so it was a treat to see them in large numbers on my very first dive, hovering above some very large Acro coloniesPalau is best known for its abundant fish and clams but there’s some truly beautiful Acropora to be found in the shallows and intermediate depths.Of course photographers focus on the neat looking corals colonies, and the colorful ones, but the vast majority of them such as this bottlebrush shaped species are brown with pale or light colored tips.One thing that always makes me happy to see is a formerly bare patch of coral reef with just an absolute CROWD of baby corals. I counted over 20 mini colonies in this little patch, all probably around a year oldWhile snapping pictures of coral colonies you’ll occasionally get a photobomb from a curious fish seeing what the fuss is about. This time it happened to be the familiar sixline wrasse which is just as inquisitive in the wild as they are in aquariums.Sometimes in midwater it’s hard to tell where the blue of the water ends and the blue color of a coral begins. This stunning BLUE Acropora was sighted at around 50 feet deep and it would make a killer strain for mariculture.Stylocoeniella is rare to see at all in the wild and although the aquarium strains are FIRE, most of them are small and nondescript like this one observed on a reef wall. The polyps are rarely extended in the wild but the telltale spikes on its surface lets you know it’s definitely a Stylocoeniella.This is the rare Likatu Montipora that we’ve only seen in the Marshall Islands before, observed here in the green polyp form in Palau.Although not as smooth and ‘naked’ as the deepwater Acros of Balu, this gorgeous magenta Acropora colony would be welcome in any reef aquarium environment.
Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.
