Montipora Capricornis care guide

Montipora capricornis: Propagation Guide

Overview

Montipora capricornis is a plating small-polyp stony coral of the family Acroporidae. It forms flat, plating colonies that expand by adding to their foundations and spreading outward, with the surface covered in small bumps that are the individual polyps. It lives in the Indian and Pacific oceans and the Red Sea, occupying the top half of the reef where photosynthesis can occur, and comes in color variations including red, green and orange.

Reproductive Mode

Montipora reproduces both sexually and asexually. For aquarists the reliable route is asexual fragmentation, which clones the parent colony; sexual reproduction follows the broadcast-spawning pattern typical of the family Acroporidae.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

1. Select a healthy plate with good color and active growth at the margins.
2. Cut the plate into chips with a band saw, tile nippers or a cutting tool.
3. Glue each chip flat onto a plug or rock with cyanoacrylate.
4. Return the frags to medium-high light and flow so the margins encrust and resume plating.

Conditions for Propagation

Montipora capricornis naturally lives in the upper, well-lit half of the reef, so provide bright light and moderate to strong flow. Stable parameters with regular calcium and alkalinity dosing support fast recovery of cut margins and continued plating growth.

Sexual Reproduction

In the family Acroporidae, reproduction occurs through broadcast spawning, in which colonies release gametes into the water column for external fertilisation, producing larvae that settle to found new colonies. In aquaria this is uncommon, so fragmentation remains the standard propagation method.

Common Challenges

Propagating Rainbow Montipora capricornis

Overview

Montipora capricornis is a small polyp stony coral in the family Acroporidae that forms flat, plating colonies. According to Wikipedia, these colonies expand by adding to their foundations and spreading outward, and the species is common in the Indian and Pacific oceans as well as the Red Sea. The Rainbow designation is an aquarium color morph; propagation follows the same methods used for the base species.

Reproductive Mode

Across the genus Montipora, corals are hermaphroditic broadcast spawners. Their eggs already contain zooxanthellae, so symbionts are passed to offspring through direct (vertical) transmission rather than acquired from the surrounding water. In captivity, however, plating colonies are multiplied almost exclusively by manual fragmentation.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

Because M. capricornis grows as a thin plate, a colony is divided by cutting the foliose tissue into smaller chips. A rotary tool or band saw is used to slice through the calcium-carbonate skeleton, after which each chip is mounted to a plug or rock with reef-safe adhesive under medium-high light and flow. Each fragment then resumes the outward, foundation-building growth described for the species.

1. Select a healthy plate margin and cut it into chips along the skeleton.
2. Glue each chip flat to a plug or rubble, polyp side up.
3. Place fragments under stable medium-high light and water movement.
4. Allow tissue to encrust the plug before relocating.

Common Challenges

The most serious threat to fragged Montipora is the Montipora-eating nudibranch. An undescribed species in the genus Phestilla is reported in scientific and hobbyist literature to feed on the genus, and the described pest Phestilla subodiosus was not found preying on any group other than Montipora. Its eggs hide in the crevices of the skeleton, making eradication difficult.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Montipora capricornis (CC BY-SA 4.0)
2. WoRMS
3. Reef Builders
4. Coral Magazine
5. Reef Builders
6. Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): Montipora