Oxypora lacera Propagation Guide
Propagating the plating chalice-type coral Oxypora lacera: cutting plate sections while preserving a mouth, dipping frags, and handling its thin but workable skeleton.
Overview
Oxypora lacera is a plating, chalice-type large-polyp stony coral that forms wide, flat encrusting layers. It is one of the genera grouped by aquarists under the chalice label alongside Mycedium, Echinopora and Echinophyllia. The plates are thin, which shapes how the coral is divided.
Reproductive Mode
Reef-building stony corals reproduce sexually by spawning and asexually by fragmentation. For chalice-type plating corals, hobbyist propagation is done almost exclusively by fragmentation of the plate.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
The plate is cut into sections, ideally with a coral saw, although the porous chalice skeleton can also be separated with bone cutters and a sharp razor blade for the tissue. Each fragment should include at least one mouth, since pieces with a mouth establish most reliably. Oxypora tends to have a somewhat thicker skeleton and grow more slowly than thin chalices, which makes it relatively forgiving to cut.
- Plan cuts so every fragment retains a mouth.
- Cut the plate with a coral saw, or snip and slice tissue with a razor.
- Mount on a plug and baster-rinse to set the bond.
- Finish with an iodine-based coral dip to encourage healing.
Conditions for Propagation
Plating frags recover under low to medium light and gentle flow, matching the conditions this coral prefers. Stable parameters and clean water help the cut edges seal without infection.
Common Challenges
Cut edges can be prone to bacterial infection during healing, so a dip and clean conditions are important. Fragments cut from between mouths, with no mouth of their own, can still develop into corals but grow more slowly.