Propagating Montipora aequituberculata (Frilly Montipora)

Propagating the frilly plating SPS Montipora aequituberculata: cutting flat chips, gluing to plugs, recovery conditions, and the Phestilla nudibranch pest.

Overview

Montipora aequituberculata is a plating member of the family Acroporidae, often forming sheets with ruffled or frilly margins. Montipora colors span orange, brown, pink, green, blue, purple, yellow, grey and tan, and a single colony may display more than one growth morphology. The genus occurs on Indo-Pacific reefs and lagoons but is absent from the Atlantic.

Reproductive Mode

Montipora are hermaphroditic broadcast spawners; in the genus the eggs already contain zooxanthellae transmitted vertically from the parent. Aquarium propagation, by contrast, is asexual fragmentation.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

Plating Montipora is forgiving to frag. A band saw cleanly divides the plate into chips, and coral cutters handle smaller cuts. Keeping fragments flat makes gluing to a plug straightforward.

1. Cut the frilly plate into flat chips with a band saw or coral cutters.
2. Apply cyanoacrylate glue matching the chip base to a plug or disc.
3. Seat the chip, hold about 30 seconds, then return it to the system.
4. Provide good flow and light again within a few hours.

Conditions for Propagation

Stable reef chemistry supports the colony's relatively fast encrusting growth. The Aquairi record targets medium-high light (about 150-250 PAR), medium-high flow and 24-26 C.

Common Challenges

Corallivorous butterflyfish and an undescribed Phestilla nudibranch feed on Montipora. Because the nudibranch is cryptic, dipping and quarantining new frags is the main safeguard.