By: Vincent Chalias
Ultra Coral Australia scored another insane Lobophyllia pachysepta, and we couldn’t resist showing it off! What makes this piece so special is the very wide palette of colors in numerous shades of green, blue, yellow and gold blending together, so we can’t even tell what color it is…
It’s not the brightest, or of amazingly fluorescent colors neither, but this mix of colors has never been seen before, and makes this piece completely new, unique and awesome.
It was collected in the LPS capital of the world, in the Mackay area, on a very turbid, silty inshore coastal reef, in less than 10 m of water. Even if the depth is pretty shallow, due to the heavily turbid water, this kind of corals doesn’t get much light and rely heavily on feeding. This area is also subjected to strong tidal currents and thus very high flow bringing in all the necessary nutriments. So feeding is probably its main source of energy.
After cleaning, they kept this piece for a few weeks, just to make sure it was healthy and holding color easily. It adapted very well to blue LED lighting, is already feeding well, perfectly healthy and is ready for the second part of its journey.
Looks like a couple of wholesalers will get a piece in the US, such as Eye Catching Coral, WWC and Unique Coral. Don’t know yet if they will keep these pieces in, or will sell them. But it’s one of a kind piece of coral that should be previously kept, and hopefully propagated for others to enjoy. So whoever gets a piece of it, please feed it well, and share the love!
