Coral

Astreopora and Cyphastrea—So Similar, Yet Different

A few years ago, if you asked me about Astreopora or Cyphastrea, I probably would not have a whole lot to contribute to the discussion. They were (and still are to a large degree) some of the most rare corals…

New ORA ORAnge Setosa adds a pop of color to your fuzzy stick collection

The new ORA ORAnge Setosa is a stunning coral with a unique and elegant look that will add a nice pop of color in your reef aquarium. There is no shortage of stunning blue, purple or green corals so it…

Check out this sweet green toadstool leather coral we picked up at ReefStock

When we are at the reef shows, and coral hunting, we usually have stony corals almost exclusively in mind. It takes a special kind of soft coral to grab our attention, and this green toadstool leather coral is exactly the…

The coral tree of life is being rewritten one LPS at a time

Warning: the following is a nerdgasm of coral taxonomy, guest-written by Joe Rowlett, one of the many talented fish geeks working the fish tanks at Old Town Aquarium in Chicago.  Historically, corals have often been grouped at the genus and family level based…

Three Old School corals that are still really cool to grow

There are many SPS corals available to the eager advanced hobbyist today. Far more than we ever had 10 years ago. I remember when the reef community was a much smaller one, a lot like a small town where everyone…

UCA’s Wildfire Monti is a killer specimen of Montipora caliculata

One of the things that we particularly like about Ultra Corals Australia is that they are coral collectors with the eyes of a reef aquarium hobbyist. To that end UCA is always on the lookout for new and unusual corals…

Zia Reefer’s gorgonian and soft coral tank is truly one of a kind

The reef aquarium world seems to be so oversaturated with stony coral madness, besides zoanthid polyps and ricordea, the soft coral truly don’t get their fair share of the spotlight. That is why Zia’s soft coral paradise of gorgonians and…

Pocillopora bairdi is described alongside a partial revision of the genus

Pocillopora bairdi is a new species of small polyp stony coral from the popular genus that includes the highly varied Pocillopora damicornis. This latter species is so diverse in shape, color and form that it has been quite hard to distinguish other…

Cycloseris boschmai is the smallest free living disc coral to date

There’s a new species of Cycloseris on the block and this one is distinguished by how small it remains. Growing up to only two inches (50mm) in diameter, Cyloseris boschmai was recently, finally described after more than three decades of…

The tale of the Ultimate Efflo tabling acropora

Few other coral in our hobby captures the image we have about massively plating coral like Acropora efflorescens. We have seen tabling corals such as Acropora granulosa or Acropora millepora but in reality the title of a true plating Acro…