Besides Zoanthids and the new wave of shrooms, the aquarium hobby isruledby our love for stony corals. But soft corals are an important part of the reef environment, sometimes becoming so dominant that they form veritable forests of softly swaying branches.
我们之前曾在野生礁石上看到过一些柔软的珊瑚区，遍布多样性Sinularia和Lobophytum soft and leather corals. But one particular reef zone in Raja Ampat Indonesia really took this notion to the next level, with these soft corals becoming almost thick enough to hide in.
在我们看的各个方向上，Sinularia和Lobophytumof dozens of different species absolutely covered every single square inch of the reefscape. And with no more room to grow out, many of theses species started growingverytall, resulting in some of the largest multi-story leather corals we’ve ever seen.
These various thick fleshyLobophytum和Sinulariawere just short of being as tall as theJoshua Tree Leather Coral来自所罗门群岛，但manbext客户端实际上该物种建造了自己的石灰石基座。但是，这个柔软的珊瑚天堂对于这些柔软的珊瑚来说是如此完美，以至于一些奇怪的物种甚至随着包裹垫而生长in betweenthe taller colonies, growing right up to their bases.
Admittedly, the diversity of shapes and colors can’t compare to a stony coral reef, but seeing this many soft and leather corals in one spot is a much less common sight. It’s hard to know why this particular section of the reef was especially crowded with these kinds of corals – there were some large and healthy colonies of Acropora as well, but these were mostly overshadowed by their Octocoral counterparts.
什么是酷看到年代呢o many soft corals in one place, is that many of these species and strains are present in our aquarium world, but we never, not even at public aquariums, see them so large and so sprawling in their size.
For example we’re all pretty much familiar with a thin branching spaghetti leather coral, you might have one in your reef tank right now. But witnessing this species ofSinularia flexibiliswith bases fifteen across, all but shrouded by countless trunks, each covered in noodley branches, is something we’ve never seen the likes of in an aquarium.
诚然，将水族馆大小与房间或礁石池塘的大小相同，才能将皮革珊瑚种植到这些可观的尺寸上。但是，尽管如此，我们希望这些图像能够激发礁石建造者考虑将礁石与某种软珊瑚混合在一起，以对比我们所有的幻想和昂贵的模糊棍子森林。
