If you could create a dream coral, what would it be?

[thrillreefer]

There are some soft corals (octocorals) that can, actually - sea pansies (Renilla spp.) for example, are bioluminescent (they're tough to come by in the hobby these days, but they have been kept before

Sadly you can't find any of thoes for sale.

Maybe here? They’re native to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and don’t sound very rare. Maybe they’re just hard to keep alive?

Cn-230 SEA PANSY, Renilla mulleri -

A soft spongy anthozoan colony with elongated white polyps, excellent for feeding experiments. Polyps are vividly luminescent when handled in the dark. Waves of luminescense move concentrically over the colony. Renilla anchors itself into substratum with short peduncle, and makes distinct trails...

gulfspecimen.org

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Maybe here? They’re native to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and don’t sound very rare. Maybe they’re just hard to keep alive?

Cn-230 SEA PANSY, Renilla mulleri -

A soft spongy anthozoan colony with elongated white polyps, excellent for feeding experiments. Polyps are vividly luminescent when handled in the dark. Waves of luminescense move concentrically over the colony. Renilla anchors itself into substratum with short peduncle, and makes distinct trails...

gulfspecimen.org

Sadly, Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory no longer sells to hobbyists:

They have two separate pages about placing orders; one page used to say no individuals while the other did not (it confused me too- I had only seen the one that didn’t state no individuals).

It looks like they’ve changed it no individuals on both pages now though:

Instructions For Ordering -

GULF SPECIMEN MARINE LAB DOES NOT PROVIDE ANIMALS TO PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. WE ONLY PROVIDE ANIMALS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, RESEARCH LABS, AND PUBLIC AQUARIUMS. OFFICE HOURS: Call to place orders between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. (850) 984-5297 1. Although we...

gulfspecimen.org

Instructions for Ordering -

GULF SPECIMEN MARINE LAB DOES NOT PROVIDE ANIMALS TO PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. WE ONLY PROVIDE ANIMALS TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, RESEARCH LABS, AND PUBLIC AQUARIUMS. OFFICE HOURS: Call to place orders between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. (850) 984-5297, Fax (850) 984-5233...

gulfspecimen.org

Edit: Both URL’s above are different, and they have different fonts for the “does not sell to individuals” paragraph on each page.

Last I checked, you could get one from Matsu Collections (Renilla koellikeri), but it's a coldwater species and I haven't checked recently if they still offer it.

Edit: To add, they're not particularly difficult to keep alive, but touch is what sets off their bioluminescence, and they can only glow a few times at a time due to the amount of energy it takes - when they're not glowing, they're fairly plain looking compared to the wide range of colors we get with other corals.

 

[reefsUP2]

A smooth-skinned Acro with the hardiness of Xenia that feasts on diatoms, cyano and dinos

Now that would be awesome .

 

[randomfishdude]

Maybe here? They’re native to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and don’t sound very rare. Maybe they’re just hard to keep alive?

Cn-230 SEA PANSY, Renilla mulleri -

A soft spongy anthozoan colony with elongated white polyps, excellent for feeding experiments. Polyps are vividly luminescent when handled in the dark. Waves of luminescense move concentrically over the colony. Renilla anchors itself into substratum with short peduncle, and makes distinct trails...

gulfspecimen.org

Alot of things are illegal to harvest. I want one of the big flat seafans... I could go get one but for whatever reason they're illegal to keep and I guess harvest... but I can scoop anenomes up.

 

[thrillreefer]

Sadly, Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory no longer sells to hobbyists:

Ugh ok. I guess we will have to engineer our own! Acropora millepora ok with everyone?? Just need access to some gravid wild colonies real quick... see https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1722151115

"Materials and Methods
Collection and Spawning of A. millepora. In November 2016, gravid adult colonies of A. millepora were collected from Trunk Reef in the Central Great Barrier Reef (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Permit G11/34671.1), transported to the National Sea Simulator at the Australian Institute forMarine Science, and placed in outdoor tanks under ambient temperature and light conditions to allow spawning. On November 18, six colonies spawned at ∼9:30 PM, and egg–sperm bundles from each individual were collected and broken up using gentle washing in 100 μm-mesh sieves, which retain the eggs while the sperm pass through. Sperm from the six individuals were pooled and diluted to a concentration of∼106/mL, and the eggs were. also pooled. Aliquots of sperm and eggs were mixed to allow fertilization at∼10:00 PM and at intervals of∼30 min thereafter; in each cycle, eggs and sperm were first incubated together at an ambient temperature of 27 °C for 15 min and then moved to a 24 °C room for microinjection. This staggered fertilization allowed time for microinjection of each batch of zygotes before first cleavage, which occurred 30–60 min after fertilization. On November19, four other individuals spawned, and their eggs and sperm were collected and processed as on the preceding day."

Gotta work quickly!

 

[Troylee]

Those are already a thing.

I have brought home a lot of these already.

I got a limited edition rainbow Tyree one! #ghost

 

[707Nick]

This is the way.

I have long dreamed of luminescent corals... Did you know it’s now a reality for plants? You can buy them here! I bought a couple, eagerly awaiting shipment

ordering this now how cool is this…

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Ugh ok. I guess we will have to engineer our own! Acropora millepora ok with everyone?? Just need access to some gravid wild colonies real quick... see https://www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10.1073/pnas.1722151115

Haha, we just need access to a CRISPR

 

[thrillreefer]

 

[thrillreefer]

OK, so without the easy ability to get gravid Acropora colonies... I did find that it's known how to induce polyp bailout in Pocillopora. Not single cell, so you wouldn't get germline mutations, and might end up with a mosaic of bioluminescence expression, sort of like the "grafted" M. capricornis. But would be much easier to try "in the garage," if you will!

 

[encrustingacro]

Faster-growing LPS so we can aqua/mariculture them more effectively

 

[BOYERZ]

Acro/millepora: black tissue white polyps.

If that's a real thing let me know!

 

[Dbichler]

I want a toadstool coral with multiple colors with long bubble tip sweepers. So basically a bubble tip anemone that’s easy to care for that doesn’t move and easily detaches without tearing and you don’t have to worry about powerheads.