Its just another approach to propagation at the mouth. Just behind the mouth in this case. Corals are pretty amazing animals. I cant think of another animal where if I cut it in half thru the mouth it would turn to 2 animals. Maybe thats why they can be seen in space for such a small animal with such amazing gift.
Actually, as they grow, they will secrete the calcium skeletons by both corals and further themselves apart. I think eventually the skeletons might even taper off to a pointy ends just like most meat corals. I will just wait until theres enough skeleton about 3x the thickness of my band saw blade, then I cut off the baby. I suspect, a new baby will form and the process REPEATS itself over and over provide the mother is healthy at time of cutting.
Neat! So they don't have very deep roots then. There is a lot I have to learn about propagation and coral species anatomy. Thanks for the updates and documentation.
Last night I made a LEGO stand for the scoly which will give more flexibility when it comes to feeding, flow and lighting around the corals. It also improves on the handling and care for the coral. I can simply remove the corals from the stand anytime for different feeding choirs. Leaving them on the stand prevents crushing the new growth as well and allows more food to flow by both sides of the specimen.
I don’t think it eating will make the zoanthilia color up the coral. It needs light from my understanding or it’s getting the light from the mother colony. just my way of seeing it, since it’s on the underside of the mother without a light source
I believe the baby intaked a new type/clade of zooxanthellae thus it has a greenish tint to it. Still too early to determine though, its still coloring up by the day.
Haha...I had to find a easier way to feed both of them and expose them to light and at the same time not risking damage to both. So I place it on Legos.