The eraser tip shaped branch ends of Acropora abrolhosensis are iconic to our memory of the early days of SPS coral keeping. A nice fuzzy staghorn A. abrolhosensis is one of the most classic and recognizable corals that many reefing pioneers ever grew…
komodo/Flores
Unique Corals’ Joe Caparatta shares his experiences on the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition
What really made the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition special is that it was organized For Aquarists, By Aquarists (FABA). One of our distinguished reefers on this FABA trip was Manhattan Aquariums and Unique Corals founder/owner Joe Caparatta who has been keeping aquariums…
Rare Acropora robusta sighted in extreme flow environment
Acropora robusta is an interesting, thick branching staghorn coral which also happens to grow crazy fast in a high energy reef tank, especially when it is provided with “maximal” speeds for an aquarium. Often confused for Acropora abrotanoides, the main feature which…
Coral rolloliths can occur in really unexpected species
We tend to think of most corals as being stationary, one-sided colonies of creatures but in some habitats, an abundance of corals occur as living tumbleweeds. When colonial corals occur as unattached rolling living rocks they are called ‘rolloliths’ – while…
Gardinoseris sighted in never before seen colors
When it comes to little known oddball corals, Gardinoseris is by far one of our super favorites with almost no known aquarium specimens in the reefing hobby. Therefore when we’re gallivanting in the parts of the Coral Triangle as we did…
The glorious colony shape of Acropora plumosa
Another day brings another interesting writeup on a notable stony coral we encountered on the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition. Like any good card-carrying Acropora lover we have perused all the pages of Corals of the World and distinctive species like Acropora pichoni…
Blue mimic anemone makes an impressive duplicate of Acropora digitifera
Unless they are hosting clownfish or somewhat reef-safe, Anemones don’t get a fair share of attention in the aquarium world. But things could be different if we saw more mimic anemones like this wonderful blue Phyllodiscus semoni which we sighted on…
The second unknown Acropora discovered on the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition
One of the most exciting outcomes we could have hoped for on the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition is to encounter some corals that have never been seen before. Early on we observed not one but two species of Acropora the likes of which…
The Orangutan Crab; Another sweet coral crustacean
Following our review of crustacean relationships with corals that we accoutered during the Fluval Sea Flores expedition, we are left wondering why we never see these associations in aquarium. One other crustacean that we often come to meet even together with our last candidate Vir…
Chaetodon ocellicauda observed living with its sister species
The butterflyfish of the Chaetodon genus is rife with many closely related species that are differentiated based on geography, and seemingly subtle color differences. While on the Fluval Sea Flores Expedition we had the chance to observe one such pair of species…