New research published in the journal Coral Reefs revealed unexpectedly high growth rates for deep water photosynthetic coral. The study measured growth rates of deep water Leptoseris corals in Hawaii and found growth rates between 1in – 0.3in or (25mm – 7.5mm)…
Prognathodes basabei, or orange margin butterfly, now officially described
Although known to exist for over 20 years and even referenced quite a few times here at Reef Builders, a new species of deep-water butterflyfish from the mesophotic reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was finally described today by…
Leptoseris skeletons specialized to double-dip into into available light
The amazing stony coral genus Leptoseris is far from staying out of the spotlight since researchers have just teased out one of its mesophotic tricks. Fort eh longest time scientists including Rich Pyle have worked on projects to investigate how Leptoseris could grow so…
Photosynthetic Leptoseris coral found living deeper than 400 feet!!!
Leptoseris is a unique genus of stony corals that is just beginning to enjoy a following by reef aquarists. A team of researchers recently discovered some colonies of Leptoseris on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia growing at depths of…
Mesophotic Reef- low light reefs can teach us new things about contemporary reefing
Tim Wijgerde of Coralscience.org is building a mesophotic reef system, basically a low light reef. Tim dropped in to share with us why he decided to do a low light reef tank and what low light reef animals can teach…
