A Coral Love Story!
Getting Ready For Newborns!
We often talk around the Reef Institute about our "coral babies." In our opinion, they are the hope of the reef. But, of course, corals are animals, so it makes sense they would reproduce! Yet, did you know that many of our "reef building" species only breed once a year, after a full moon, at a specific time of night, when the ocean is just the right temperature? Talk about needing to "be in the mood." This infographic explains it pretty well:
In the Caribbean, most of the time, this happens in August. Yet, one species, Grooved Brain Coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis), chooses spring when love is in the air. So, this coral will bring us their larvae in the next few weeks of April or May. We are preparing the nursery for their arrival from both the Florida Aquarium lab and the ocean.
This is how we prepared:
Worked with the Florida Aquarium and NOAA to ensure we helped some newborn larvae find a good home at the Reef Institute.
For months we have been "seasoning" tiles. We have had unique ceramic tiles prepared in our systems, and we hope they will gain the right environment for coral larvae when they are ready to find their forever home.
We built specially designed baskets where the larvae will be placed after we receive them. Baskets lined with tiles will give the larvae a finite space to land.
Now we wait!
In the next few weeks we will get a call from divers at NOAA and scientists at Florida Aquarium with the news, "Come get your babies." (It is looking like this will happen in the middle of May this year. ) Then, we will drive to Miami and Apollo Beach for pick-up. When we get the larvae to the lab, they will enter their baskets, and the race is on. The goal will be to have several thousand larvae find a perfect home in our tanks. Then, we will raise them and get them into the ocean with the hope they will grow huge, reproduce, and continue to restore our reefs.
It's with great anticipation we wait for the arrival of these fantastic reef builders. We can't wait to share their newborn photos. (Taken under a microscope, of course.)
This video shows brain corals on their journey from the surface of the water to settlement.