Fragments of hope is an example of reef restoration done right

Laughing Bird Caye National Park in Southern Belize is home to one of the Caribbean’s more successful reef restoration projects. With over 30,000 coral fragments planted to date, Fragments of Hope is a true ray of hope for the future…

Caribbean Coral Reefs used to be made up of fields of coral

The concept of shifting baselines is an important one in reef ecology which basically describes how successive generations of researchers have their own ideas of what constitutes a healthy or a natural reef. Nowhere is this concept more important than…

Fields of Caribbean staghorn corals discovered off Florida coast

In another bit of good news to start off the new year, it was recently announced that a huge field of Caribbean staghorn coral was discovered right off of the coast of South Florida. The Caribbean staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, is…

Endangered versus Threatened: Why should you be concerned?

While yesterdays event scared just about everyone in the greater aquatics industry we might come to expect that more often as different petitions make there way around federal bodies that deal with the ESA. A lot of folks think we…

Neptune formally announces WaV pump, 1Link module, and pricing

The WaV pump from Neptune Systems saw a subdued unveiling at MACNA in Denver a couple weeks ago that was all but overshadowed by the forthcoming DoS fluid metering system. Not one to let questions go unanswered about an exciting new product…

New endangered coral ruling threatens your right to grow corals

In 2012, the NOAA made it known that they were considering listing 66 stony coral species as threatened. After receiving extensive public comments to the tune of 42,000 letters and emails along with another 32,000 emails after extending the comments…

Video of Marshall Islands’ Pacific Elhorn Acropora rotumana

The Pacific Elkhorn Acro that made headlines several years ago has an uncanny resemblance to the Caribbean Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmata.  It was a great surprise to find the highly distinctive Pacific Elkhorn Acro growing aplenty in Kwajalein Atoll and in addition to…

Pacific Acropora hybrid intentionally crossed and a wild colony identified

Acropora prolifera is a confirmed ‘hybrid species’ of stony coral living in the Caribbean which is a direct F1 hybrid between the actual species, A. cervicornis and A. palmata. This precedent for Acropora hybridization where two species occur has led scientists to…

Five most interesting new coral species described in 2012

From cave-dwelling corals to a new species of the popular Euphyllia coral, 2012 was a very good year for completely unknown stony corals. Some have never been and will never be seen in reef aquaria, while others are prime candidates…

Breaking: NOAA announces the proposal to list 66 stony coral species as endangered or threatened

Just hours ago NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) made public their intention to move forward with the proposal to list 66 species of stony corals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). You may recall that three years…