I reached out to Monsoon Aquatics for an update on this seasons coral spawning – they provided me with the following information.
Season Wrap Up
Every October for the past five years, the team at Monsoon Aquatics has embarked on the annual coral spawning season at their farm in Burnett Heads, Queensland, Australia. Strap on your head torches, pump the red lights, and let us take you through this year’s wrap-up…..
During the 2024-25 season, we spawned, settled, and grew out the following species:
- Acropora (microclados, tenuis, millipora and spathulata)
- Micromussa lordhowensis (Acan lords)
- Trachyphyllia geoffroyi
- Homophyllia australis (Scoly)
- Euphyllia glabrescens (Torch)
- Gonipora species
- Echinophyllia species (Chalice)
We currently have over 40,000 settled corals currently growing out from this spawn run! We have only kept our key species to grow out, such as scoly, acan, trachy, and torch.
Reef-building corals such as Acropora will be a key target species for conservation aquaculture, so getting experience with these corals has been very valuable. Spawning the Acropora species proved quite easy, which is promising for our future reef restoration projects.
Continuous Improvement
Each year, we are improving our systems, procedures, and ultimate production. This continual improvement has allowed us to experiment this season with selective breeding to produce (in theory) a higher number of chimera, ultra, and master-grade corals. The early results from our selective breeding trials with scolymia will be evident soon, so stay tuned.
Checking for signs of spawning in corals each evening during spawning season
Challenges
One thing we are learning about conservation aquaculture is that baby corals have a mind of their own and won’t always do as they are told or encouraged to! As our settlement and survival rates improve, we are faced with the new problem of too many recruits choosing the same spots to settle and grow.
This is particularly a problem when it comes to producing corals for deployment in reef restoration projects, as the baby corals need to be separated out to one or two per block for deployment devices. This is almost impossible when you get settlement like seen in this photo of Gold torch, these guys all chose the one end of the tile to settle.
Head Scientist Jonathan Moorhead, PhD amongst tanks where various substrates for settlement are being conditioned
So now we have decent settlement rates and survivorship. The next step is to get these guys to spread out a little. We have some ideas that we will employ during this year’s spawning runs.
Beautiful Mistakes
However, every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case, overcrowded settlement has produced the beautiful mistakes that are our unique scoly gardens. This is something we never find in the wild, it’s a direct result of our captive spawning.
We are also finding unusual color patterns that we rarely, if ever, see in the wild; maybe this has something to do with our higher survival rates in captivity compared to the wild; maybe natural selection doesn’t like some of these color morphs. Whatever the reason, we love our scoly gardens and the new color varieties our conservation aquaculture program is putting out.
About Monsoon Aquatics
Aerial view of Monsoon Aquatics coral farm
Monsoon Aquatics was founded in 2009 and has expanded to become one of Australia’s largest and most trusted suppliers of wild-caught and aquacultured coral, fish, and marine life. Through continuous research, innovation, and collaboration with industry experts, they are committed to advancing coral aquaculture practices, supporting reef conservation efforts, and providing customers with ethically sourced marine life. They are wholesale only.
Monsoon Aquatics’ annual coral spawning initiative is a remarkable endeavor that offers a glimmer of hope for coral reef conservation. Their achievements in spawning and growing a diverse range of coral species, with over 40,000 settled corals from the 2024 – 2025 season, are truly impressive. The focus on key species like Acropora, which is crucial for reef restoration, is a significant step forward.
The continuous improvement in their systems and the experimentation with selective breeding show their dedication to enhancing coral quality. However, they face challenges such as overcrowded coral settlement, which is a unique problem in conservation aquaculture. Despite this, the “beautiful mistakes” like the creation of unique scoly gardens and the discovery of unusual color patterns add an interesting dimension to their work.
This kind of research – intensive and conservation – oriented work can be physically and mentally demanding. After long hours spent monitoring the corals and dealing with the intricacies of the spawning process, a massage pillow(https://avohug.com/) could provide much – needed comfort and relaxation for the team at Monsoon Aquatics. It might seem like a small addition, but it could help ease muscle tension and fatigue, allowing the hard – working scientists and staff to recharge and continue their important work. Overall, Monsoon Aquatics’ efforts are not only contributing to the scientific understanding of coral reproduction but also playing a vital role in the fight to protect our precious coral reefs.