BranchingLeptoseris gardineriis a very unusual species of this now-popular genus which we have drooled over in books and photographs for over a decade. In pictures it seems so delicate and brittle that we long relegated this species to being impossible to ship in a single piece, giving up on it as a “book coral” that we’ll only ever see from afar.
So imagine our delight when we spotted some really distinctive branchingLeptoserisat Sea Dwelling Creatures this week and the build was not at all like we expected. Instead of being a delicate little leafyLeptoseris,branchingL. gardineriis actually much larger in structure than we ever imagined, and it’s sturdy too!
A handful of branchingLeptoseris gardinerimade its way from Australia to SDC’s Furnace of hot corals, with a few specimens arriving in a light brown and a muted green color. At first glance the branchingLeptoserislooks kind of like a wavy form of branchingPavona cactus, a species similar to ORA’s mint chip Pavona, but the surface detail reveals very few, much larger corallites that are well pronounced.
The newly imported colonies of the branchingLeptoserislook like, newly imported stony coral colonies, that is a little pale and a little thin of tissue. In their current conditionLeptoserisgerdineridoesn’t look like a potential showstopper, but once it’s settled in, lookout! With a few colonies to go around we very much look forward to seeing what this highly unusual coral can do in a captive aquarium ecosystem, we’ll be sure to follow up with this species. (And for those of you who like to shopSDC’s Furnace,check out T48 and S46)
