Acanthophyllia successfully captive-spawned in Indonesia
Aquarium Connections has successfully captive-spawned the Meat Coral, Acanthophyllia deshayesiana, in Indonesia. The company announced the news on their Facebook page on Christmas Day:
“For the past four months, our dedicated team has been working tirelessly to cultivate these magnificent corals. Today we celebrate a significant milestone as we witness the successful spawning of Acanthophyllia, a crucial step towards sustainable coral propagation for the aquarium industry. The next species we hope to spawn is Cynarina.”
Acanthophyllia are high-value, highly sought-after large polyp stony corals, but they are few and far between in nature, they’re slow-growing, and can’t be fragged and maricultured in the normal way. The prospect of captive-bred, captive-raised Acanthophyllia is hugely positive on several counts – we will no longer have to rely on wild collection, hardy captive-raised Acanthos will become available in the aquarium trade in the future, and having the spawning knowhow and the broodstock ex-situ can further help protect the species from natural threats in the future. It’s the same for Cynarina.
“This project represents a beacon of hope for coral reef conservation.” Aquarium Connections said. By successfully breeding Acanthophyllia in captivity we can reduce the pressure on wild populations and ensure the long-term health of these vital ecosystems.”
Aquarium Connections is headed up by high-end aquarium builder and UK Triton distributor Vincent Thomas. He is one of the former founders and partners of The Coral Spawning Lab, before parting ways with Professor Mike Sweet and Dr Jamie Craggs this year.
Although Acanthophyllia have spawned in captivity before, only a very small number of people and organisations have succeeded in settling and raising them. Other notable successes include Keri O’Neil and ACI Aquaculture in America, and Inter-Fish in Australia.
There will be some way to go (especially for us in the UK,) with CITES to differentiate ex-situ captive-bred corals from in-situ maricultured, and wild, and even to allow the import of such captive-bred corals from Australia, Indonesia and the US. As of right now, there is no clear legal pathway to import captive-bred hard corals from either of those three continents. But the prospect of on-demand captive-bred Acanthos (and even Cynarina,) is an exciting one indeed.
