Propagating Gold Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa)
Fragging guide for the Gold Frogspawn, a color morph of Euphyllia divisa: wall-skeleton fragging, sweeper-tentacle aggression and brown-jelly disease precautions.
Overview
The Gold Frogspawn is a sought-after color morph of Euphyllia divisa with bright yellow-gold tentacles, collected mainly from Australia. It is a large-polyped stony coral of the family Euphylliidae whose bulbous, multi-tipped tentacles resemble a clutch of frog eggs. Like the base species it grows on a flabello-meandroid wall skeleton and depends on symbiotic zooxanthellae.
Reproductive Mode
As a morph of Euphyllia divisa, the Gold Frogspawn reproduces sexually in the wild and asexually by colony division. Because the gold coloration is a clonal trait, hobbyists multiply this morph only by fragging, which preserves the parent's color in every piece.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Euphyllia divisa carries a continuous wall-type corallite skeleton rather than separate branches, so fragging the Gold Frogspawn typically means cutting through the wall and its sensitive flesh. Cuts are planned to leave each piece with healthy polyp tissue over its own skeleton, after which the frags are dipped and mounted to recover.
- Work with sterile bone cutters or a rotary tool, wearing gloves and eye protection.
- Plan the cut line through the wall so each piece keeps healthy tissue.
- Keep cuts to a minimum to limit damage to the sensitive flesh.
- Dip and mount the frags, then place them in adequate flow to heal.
Conditions for Propagation
Gold Frogspawn frags settle under moderate lighting and moderate flow, with stable alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium and low nutrients. A recovering frag rebuilds a firm flesh band over the cut and reinflates its bulbous tentacles fully once established on the new base.
Sexual Reproduction
Sexual reproduction follows that of Euphyllia divisa: broadcast spawning with eggs and sperm released for external fertilization, generally timed to lunar cues. This wild route is not used by hobbyists, who clone the morph through fragging to keep its gold color.
Common Challenges
Euphyllia extend long sweeper tentacles tipped with stinging cnidocytes, so Gold Frogspawn frags need clear spacing from other corals. The leading post-fragging danger is brown jelly disease, which can destroy a colony within weeks and spread to neighbors; reject any piece already coated in a brown gel-like film.