Cynarina lacrymalis Propagation Guide
Propagation of the solitary button or cat's-eye coral Cynarina lacrymalis: a single-polyp species that is difficult to frag and increases mainly by natural budding and broadcast spawning.
Overview
Cynarina lacrymalis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1848) is a stony coral in the family Lobophylliidae, the type species of the genus Cynarina (Brüggemann, 1877) per the World Register of Marine Species. It is known in the aquarium trade as the button, tooth or cat's-eye coral. Unlike the meandering brain corals, it is a solitary animal: a single large polyp with inflated translucent vesicles surrounding one central mouth.
Reproductive Mode
Because Cynarina is a single-polyp coral, it does not spread by repeatedly dividing into shared-wall corallites the way a colonial brain coral does. In captivity it increases only through slow natural budding and tissue regeneration around its one skeleton, while reproduction across reef populations proceeds sexually.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Reef Builders groups single-polyp corals such as Scolymia, meat corals and Fungia among those that resist conventional fragging, because there is no shared wall between distinct polyps to cut along. A solitary Cynarina would have to be sectioned straight through its one polyp, an unreliable approach that risks the whole animal, so it is usually left intact to bud on its own rather than being sawn.
Conditions for Propagation
If tissue is ever divided, recovery depends on calm, stable conditions. Reef Builders recommends gently basting mucus from the coral and keeping flow gentle while tissue knits over the skeleton; the translucent vesicles are thin-walled and tear easily under strong current. Clean, steady water gives the polyp the best chance to re-skin exposed bare skeleton.
Sexual Reproduction
As with other Lobophylliidae, Cynarina reproduces sexually by releasing gametes into the water, where fertilisation produces planula larvae that disperse, settle on hard substrate and develop into new solitary polyps. This broadcast route, not fragmentation, is the natural mechanism that generates new individuals on the reef.
Common Challenges
The large translucent vesicles inflate dramatically and are very delicate; in a single-polyp coral any tear threatens the entire specimen. The animal can swell and deflate quickly, so handling must be careful, and exposed skeleton or receding tissue can progress fast in poor water. Protect the soft tissue from sharp rock and excess flow and minimise handling.