This latest mystery coral may stump you—it has caused quizzical frowns even from veteran reefkeepers. You might be able to narrow it down to the genus level, but that’s where you’re thrown a curveball. The bedazzled paddles of red with tiny blue polyps aren’t a growth pattern you might normally associate with this type of coral.
Amanda Meckley at ACI Aquaculture said this is the only photo she’s managed to get of the coral, which has been allowed to go a bit feral in their systems. “I wish I got a better pic of it,” she said. “I took some GoPro video of it because it’s impossible to photograph unless I hang upside down from the rafters. I almost dunked my camera in trying to get it from the opposite side.”
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“Superman” Montipora capricornis.