Propagating Rainbow Montipora capricornis
How to frag the Rainbow color morph of the plating coral Montipora capricornis, a member of the family Acroporidae, with notes on cutting plates and the Phestilla nudibranch pest.
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.
- Select a healthy plate margin and cut it into chips along the skeleton.
- Glue each chip flat to a plug or rubble, polyp side up.
- Place fragments under stable medium-high light and water movement.
- 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.