Propagating Forest Fire Montipora digitata
Fragging the Forest Fire color morph of the branching coral Montipora digitata, family Acroporidae: snapping finger branches, spawning biology, and the Phestilla nudibranch pest.
Overview
Forest Fire is an aquarium color morph of Montipora digitata, a branching coral of the family Acroporidae. According to Wikipedia, the species has a digitate or bushy form of vertically aligned, anastomosing branches forming hemispherical mounds over 40 centimetres across, with small, deeply embedded corallites. The morph name describes coloration only; its propagation matches the base species.
Reproductive Mode
As a simultaneous hermaphrodite, M. digitata spawns once a year, releasing packets of eggs and sperm that rise to the surface for cross-fertilisation between colonies. The coral is zooxanthellate, with photosynthetic symbionts providing up to 90 percent of its energy and plankton capture supplementing the rest. Color morphs such as Forest Fire are perpetuated in the hobby by fragmentation rather than spawning.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Like all digitate Montipora, the Forest Fire morph is propagated by removing finger branches and mounting them. A branch is snapped or clipped from the colony, fixed to a plug, and grown under medium-high light and flow until it builds a new bushy colony. Preserving bright tissue at the branch tips helps maintain the morph's red branches and yellow polyps.
- Clip a 2-4 cm finger branch, keeping a healthy growing tip.
- Mount it upright on a plug with reef-safe adhesive.
- Provide medium-high light and water movement.
- Wait for the base to encrust before relocating the frag.
Common Challenges
Designer Montipora frags carry the same risk as the base species: the Montipora-eating nudibranch. The described pest Phestilla subodiosus feeds specifically on Montipora and has become a commercial problem as the genus is aquacultured. Its eggs hide in the gnarly crevices of the branches, so a single missed batch can re-establish the pest.