Maldives Pavona (Pavona maldivensis) Care Guide
Pavona maldivensis is an encrusting-to-massive coral in the family Agariciidae with star-like corallites; a hardy zooxanthellate species listed as Least Concern.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Pavona maldivensis is a stony coral in the family Agariciidae, described by Gardiner in 1905. Colonies can be encrusting or massive or a mixture of the two, typically smaller than 30 cm across but occasionally exceeding 1 m. Morphology is plastic: it forms cylindrical finger-like growths in strong currents and horizontal plates with leafy edges in calmer water.
Taxonomy
- Family: Agariciidae
- Genus: Pavona
- Scientific name: Pavona maldivensis
- Authority: (Gardiner, 1905)
- Synonyms: Pavona pollicata (Wells, 1954); Siderastrea maldivensis (Gardiner, 1905)
Habitat
The species ranges from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Madagascar through the southwestern and central Indian Ocean to northern Australia, southern Japan, the South China Sea and the western, central and eastern Pacific. It favours shallow reef slopes, especially those with strong wave action, and vertical surfaces.
Symbiosis and feeding
It is a zooxanthellate coral relying on symbiotic single-celled algae for photosynthesis, and it contains the pigment phycoerythrin, which produces orange fluorescence. In aquaria lighting drives its growth, with amino-acid supplements as support.
Reef-tank requirements
- Lighting: 150-250 PAR (medium-high)
- Flow: medium-high
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Specific gravity: 1.025-1.026
- Alkalinity (dKH): 7.5-9
- Calcium: 420-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm
- Phosphate: below 0.05 ppm
- Nitrate: below 10 ppm
- Minimum tank maturity: about 3 months
Compatibility
It is a passive, reef-safe coral suitable alongside fish and shrimp. Stable chemistry and consistent flow help maintain its colour and form.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern (2014).
Pavona maldivensis Propagation Guide
Overview
Pavona maldivensis is a colonial stony coral in the family Agariciidae. Pavona corals take a range of forms including massive, columnar, leaf-like and plate-like, and a single species may vary in form according to current, wave action, lighting and depth. Maldivensis tends to grow encrusting to columnar. The genus is zooxanthellate, switching to an autotrophic mode to draw nutrition from its symbiotic algae, with polyps that extend at night.
Reproductive Mode
Pavona reproduce sexually by releasing gametes into the sea, where fertilisation produces a free-swimming planula larva that settles and metamorphoses into a polyp; that polyp then buds repeatedly to build a new colony. The genus can also spread asexually: a broken-off piece that becomes wedged in a suitable position continues to grow and bud into a new colony.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
For an encrusting to columnar Pavona, cut a piece of the colony, ideally with a little of the underlying rock, then mount it on a plug or rock. Dry the base of the cutting and the plug, apply a couple of dabs of cyanoacrylate glue, secure the piece, and place it in low flow until the glue cures. The frag then encrusts the plug and resumes Pavona's columnar growth.
Conditions for Propagation
As a photosynthetic SPS, a maldivensis frag needs stable reef parameters, moderate to high light, and good water movement. Because Pavona is largely autotrophic, strong lighting matters most for recovery; supplemental feeding is secondary. Frags from healthy colonies encrust and thicken reliably.
Sexual Reproduction
Spawning by gamete release is the natural sexual route but is impractical in home aquaria, where capturing and rearing the short-lived planulae is difficult. Hobby propagation therefore relies on cutting and re-attaching frags, which mirrors the genus's own asexual spread by wedged fragments.