Propagating Montipora hispida (Hispida Monti)

Propagation guide for encrusting/plating Montipora hispida: band-saw cuts around polyps, gluing flat chips to plugs, recovery conditions, and the Montipora nudibranch pest.

Overview

Montipora hispida is a small-polyp stony coral of the family Acroporidae that grows in encrusting and plating forms with a bristled surface. As with all Montipora, the corallites are the smallest of any coral family and the coenosteum is porous. The genus is distributed across the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea and is absent from the Atlantic.

Reproductive Mode

Montipora reproduce sexually as hermaphroditic broadcast spawners, releasing gametes in spring. In captivity, colonies are increased asexually by fragmentation.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

Where the colony is encrusting, cut around the polyps with a band saw to the desired size; where it plates, cut the sheet into flat chips. Coral cutters are a cheaper option for smaller pieces. Flat fragments seat best on plugs.

1. Cut around polyps (encrusting) or into chips (plating) with a band saw or coral cutters.
2. Keep fragments flat to ease the glue bond.
3. Apply cyanoacrylate glue sized to the fragment base on a plug or disc.
4. Seat the fragment, hold about 30 seconds, then return it to good flow and light within a few hours.

Conditions for Propagation

Stable alkalinity, calcium and magnesium underpin recovery. The Aquairi record targets medium-high light (about 150-250 PAR), medium flow and 24-26 C.

Common Challenges

Montipora hosts copepod parasites such as Allopodion mirum and Xarifia extensa, and an undescribed Phestilla nudibranch grazes its tissue. Quarantine and dip new frags before adding them to the display.