It’s the spawning season, and like every year, we spend many nights for months, doing night dives, and observing different spawning species. With coral spawning, there are many missed nights, where nothing is happening. Going from coral to coral, checking…
Coral
Cairns Marine’s Yellow Mottled Hammer Coral has us going Bananas
We’ve handled a lot of hammer corals over the years, both Branching and Walling, but this Yellow Mottled Aussie Ancora from Cairns Marine stands out for its color, mottling pattern, and its uniqueness. “This one came in a few weeks…
Russell Kelley Online Coral ID Workshop is back in January 2023
After overwhelmingly positive feedback from the previous workshops, the Online Coral ID Workshops are back, and now spanning 4 days. That’s 16 hours of Indo-Pacific Coral ID Training! Proper coral identification matters and this workshop will teach you all the…
Biota offer cultured coral alternative from permit-restricted Palau
Most aquarium hobbyists in the United States today have never seen hard coral from Palau. Palau’s national congress passed the Marine Protection Act of 1994 which restricted hard coral exports, and starting in 1997, the MPA stated that only citizens…
Rainbow Blasto looks like a Master Scoly!
We’ve been admiring the Blastomussa genus of late, and especially the Large Polyp Blasto, Blastomussa vivida. Like its congeners, B.vivida can come with that classic cherry red rim with a bright green center, but then also solid cherry red to…
Acropora awi is another deepwater beauty!
Acropora awi is a deep water Acropora that has been grown in Indonesian mariculture farms for quite a while. Nevertheless, it has never had the credit it deserves, probably due to misidentification, and its dull natural coloration. But after cooking…
Bali Aquarium Becomes the first Licensed Ex-Situ Coral Farm in Indo
Over 20 years after becoming the first in-situ (Ocean Farm), licensed coral farm in Indonesia, Bali Aquarium has done it again, becoming the first ex-situ (inland) licensed coral farm in Indonesia to obtain export quota for these corals. It’s been…
Ultimate Mycedium Chalice Corals Spotted in Indonesia
We love to photograph Mycedium under water – Mycedium elephantotus is probably one of the most photogenic corals because it always exhibit a variety of bright colors on the same colony with contrasting mouths. During a diving trip in central…
Acid Trip Cyphastrea Just Melted My Brain
Ultra Coral Australia, the famous Australian coral business owned by master coral collector and farmer Nic Dos Santos, just showed us some pictures of a Cyphastrea coral that blew our mind! Multicolored Cyphastrea are quite a common sight. But this…
Crazy Cave Dwelling Leptoseris Survives in Almost Total Darkness
On a recent dive on a deep reef in Indonesia, we noticed a very unique coral under a ledge. It was a very colorful specimen of Leptoseris foliosa with very unusual coloration unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. We had…