Anthony Calfo
Well-known member
RFCOW2 Stylophora pistillata
In this installment of Coral of the Week, we look at an old time favorite "sps" coral that is commonly kept but, in my opinion, widely misunderstood. Stylophora pistillata (AKA Pink Cats Paw, Birdsnest, etc.) has been imported live for something in the neighborhood of 20 years. Indeed, it was one of the first "sps" corals collected for its color (often pink) and ease of collection (plentiful in some shallows). Moreover, it has been collected many decades longer for the curio industry for its handsome morphology and especially dense corallum ("skeleton"). It is this later attribute that I'd like to speak to first regarding the care and culture of this Poccilloporid in captivity.
Anyone who has tried to frag Stylophora likely got a prompt appreciation for how very tough the "skeleton" of this scleractinian is; it is staggeringly dense and strong! In some cases, it cannot easily be broken by hand or with hand tools, but rather requires the use of a saw like a Dremel rotary tool to cut off a branch. To keen aquarists, this tells us a lot. Remember: form follows function! Giraffes have long necks to graze branches from high treetops… anteaters have long tongues to probe for their prey in the recesses of a mound… and a beautiful pink stony coral with a very sturdy skeleton living in very shallow water is dense because of (drumroll please…): wave action! Very strong wave action. Form follows function… never forget this and it will serve you well as you intuitively try to discover the needs of various corals. The corallum of dense Stylophora is formed so to endure dynamic water flow. Arguably, it needs it for optimal growth, and aquarists that obey this usually enjoy fine rates of growth in their specimens while many of the rest of us sit back wondering why our specimens have not flourished like other stonies in our displays.
FWIW, for all the attention paid to lighting issues, I personally would peg it third behind water flow and nutrients/feeding in terms of influence on the growth of corals in captivity for a majority of the species we keep. It (lighting) really is an overblown issue IMO when corals in the wild and aquaria alike have proven to be HIGHLY adaptable to a wide range of light, given a gradual period of acclimation. But feeding is a hard thing to finesse, change or skimp on. And water flow is a staggeringly underestimated parameter of life for these sessile invertebrates that depend on such flow to bring food to them and carry waste products away. It is this lack of flow in shipping vessels/bags in large part that lead to the demise of many collected corals. The extended transit allows the anoxic microlayer of water surrounding corals to "thicken" along with mucus/metabolites and an increasing count of bacteria, which may become pathogenic in large enough numbers (hence the rank necrosis on arrival of many corals). Have no doubt, water flow is Life for our cnidarian friends.
And simply throwing a bunch of powerheads or some teed water pump outlets at the seascape in your tank is not enough. Like feeding, where prey and particle size is crucial by species within a sometimes narrow range, water flow too needs to be finessed. In a nutshell though, the safe and easy route is to provide random turbulent flow: a moderate to very strong, mixing and eddying of converging effluents. Sparing the inconvenience or expense of producing surge or wave type flow (which is ideal for many corals, but tough on skimmer performance and system design and ultimately not critical to have), random turbulent water flow is practical and effective for most reef aquaria. See my very biased opinion against/on powerheads with a cheap alternative solution in an article called "Goodbye Powerheads…" posted over at wetwebmedia.com [RF mods… please feel welcome to copy and post this anywhere here on RF if you like]. It basically describes building a cheap closed loop manifold out of PVC pipe driven by a single pump (perhaps your sump return pump) and with nozzles that can be finely tuned and tweaked as the seascape in your tank changes over time (corals grow, get fragged, are removed, rockscapes change, etc.).
Getting back to Stylophora… I will say that water flow is a principal influence on their growth in captivity (versus say… Sarcophyton that gets by with variable water flow and needs very little if any food, but will simply grow faster under warm MH daylights than under blue slanted fluorescents). I believe that a majority of aquarists simply do not apply enough water flow to their corals. Furthermore, many of the difficulties reported with tissue recession in the depths of magnificent branching "birdsnest" colonies are not due to lighting, as most folks assume, but rather (broken record here…) inadequate water flow in the recesses of the colony.
You will find some aquarists that succeed with these hardy and very adaptable corals (they do occur over a very wide range geographically and through niches on a given reef) with methods in contrast to what I have mentioned above and what the masses may experience, of course. In the three dimensional environment of our aquaria, there are some very complex dynamics and relationships occurring. But still, these are the exceptions and not the rule and fall under the category of one of my fav sayings, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."
Sticking with the fundamentals, Stylophora pistillata naturally occurs (primarily) in shallow water environments with strong water flow. You can experiment (carefully – especially with new imports requiring dim light at first) with high light placement of this coral in your tank, but know that it is not necessary. Rather than pale, watery pink (still quite pretty) specimens getting torched by enough MH lamps over your display to melt the acrylic braces, consider more moderate lighting (7 – 10k K color and around 5 watts per gallon) for arguably a more stable specimen with a still likely handsome (perhaps darker) pink color. I proffer the specific mention of colors under light here with full knowledge that you will find specimens in a range of color including tan/brown/crème/purple and green. And that color is not only influenced by lighting alone. It's just that pink is the most popular color and these generalizations will contribute usefully for most keepers… at least getting you in the right direction to get/keep the pink color you may want
And finally, an interesting note about reproductive strategies. For reef aquarists interested in propagating this species and seeking better results or some kind of challenge beyond simple fragmentation, do remember what family this coral is in and the track record of its kin. Specifically I'm referring to Poccillopora damicornis. The aforementioned, as many of you know, is a remarkably hardy and fast growing Poccilloporid that very readily planulates asexually (as early as 4 months old from settled planulae itself!). There is good reason to believe that close kin like Seriatopora and our topic today of Stylophora can certainly do the same. And considering how very slow Stylophora is to frag and reproduce (for profit/trade) for most people, the potential for acts of planulation producing hundreds or even thousands of settled divisions in our aquaria is very appealing! So what's the trick? Well… I cannot say definitively, but I have some very strong suspicions. Beyond the obvious need for good water quality (avoiding overcrowding and competition as with dreadfully overstocked garden reef aquaria) and nutrition, I suggest that you grow out your colony undisturbed (no fragging!) for at least two years for it to reach a critical mass. Other corals have demonstrated this need to reach a critical mass for sexual maturity and have proven to produce more divisions of coral than any number of slow, albeit, successful fragmentation methods over the same period of time. I point to the photosynthetic Neptheids as a prime example. Pinching off branches is slow but successful… yet done too aggressively, the parent/donor is slow to regrow and yield new branches. Yet if you wait some months or a couple of years without cutting or pinching it, they readily drop branchlets and even planulate asexually with the planulae maturing in plain view in fascinating brood pouches right upon the stalk of the coral!
Well… that about sums up my rant on the COW. Please share your input and pictures for the archives and the benefit of all.
with kind regards,
Anthony
In this installment of Coral of the Week, we look at an old time favorite "sps" coral that is commonly kept but, in my opinion, widely misunderstood. Stylophora pistillata (AKA Pink Cats Paw, Birdsnest, etc.) has been imported live for something in the neighborhood of 20 years. Indeed, it was one of the first "sps" corals collected for its color (often pink) and ease of collection (plentiful in some shallows). Moreover, it has been collected many decades longer for the curio industry for its handsome morphology and especially dense corallum ("skeleton"). It is this later attribute that I'd like to speak to first regarding the care and culture of this Poccilloporid in captivity.
Anyone who has tried to frag Stylophora likely got a prompt appreciation for how very tough the "skeleton" of this scleractinian is; it is staggeringly dense and strong! In some cases, it cannot easily be broken by hand or with hand tools, but rather requires the use of a saw like a Dremel rotary tool to cut off a branch. To keen aquarists, this tells us a lot. Remember: form follows function! Giraffes have long necks to graze branches from high treetops… anteaters have long tongues to probe for their prey in the recesses of a mound… and a beautiful pink stony coral with a very sturdy skeleton living in very shallow water is dense because of (drumroll please…): wave action! Very strong wave action. Form follows function… never forget this and it will serve you well as you intuitively try to discover the needs of various corals. The corallum of dense Stylophora is formed so to endure dynamic water flow. Arguably, it needs it for optimal growth, and aquarists that obey this usually enjoy fine rates of growth in their specimens while many of the rest of us sit back wondering why our specimens have not flourished like other stonies in our displays.
FWIW, for all the attention paid to lighting issues, I personally would peg it third behind water flow and nutrients/feeding in terms of influence on the growth of corals in captivity for a majority of the species we keep. It (lighting) really is an overblown issue IMO when corals in the wild and aquaria alike have proven to be HIGHLY adaptable to a wide range of light, given a gradual period of acclimation. But feeding is a hard thing to finesse, change or skimp on. And water flow is a staggeringly underestimated parameter of life for these sessile invertebrates that depend on such flow to bring food to them and carry waste products away. It is this lack of flow in shipping vessels/bags in large part that lead to the demise of many collected corals. The extended transit allows the anoxic microlayer of water surrounding corals to "thicken" along with mucus/metabolites and an increasing count of bacteria, which may become pathogenic in large enough numbers (hence the rank necrosis on arrival of many corals). Have no doubt, water flow is Life for our cnidarian friends.
And simply throwing a bunch of powerheads or some teed water pump outlets at the seascape in your tank is not enough. Like feeding, where prey and particle size is crucial by species within a sometimes narrow range, water flow too needs to be finessed. In a nutshell though, the safe and easy route is to provide random turbulent flow: a moderate to very strong, mixing and eddying of converging effluents. Sparing the inconvenience or expense of producing surge or wave type flow (which is ideal for many corals, but tough on skimmer performance and system design and ultimately not critical to have), random turbulent water flow is practical and effective for most reef aquaria. See my very biased opinion against/on powerheads with a cheap alternative solution in an article called "Goodbye Powerheads…" posted over at wetwebmedia.com [RF mods… please feel welcome to copy and post this anywhere here on RF if you like]. It basically describes building a cheap closed loop manifold out of PVC pipe driven by a single pump (perhaps your sump return pump) and with nozzles that can be finely tuned and tweaked as the seascape in your tank changes over time (corals grow, get fragged, are removed, rockscapes change, etc.).
Getting back to Stylophora… I will say that water flow is a principal influence on their growth in captivity (versus say… Sarcophyton that gets by with variable water flow and needs very little if any food, but will simply grow faster under warm MH daylights than under blue slanted fluorescents). I believe that a majority of aquarists simply do not apply enough water flow to their corals. Furthermore, many of the difficulties reported with tissue recession in the depths of magnificent branching "birdsnest" colonies are not due to lighting, as most folks assume, but rather (broken record here…) inadequate water flow in the recesses of the colony.
You will find some aquarists that succeed with these hardy and very adaptable corals (they do occur over a very wide range geographically and through niches on a given reef) with methods in contrast to what I have mentioned above and what the masses may experience, of course. In the three dimensional environment of our aquaria, there are some very complex dynamics and relationships occurring. But still, these are the exceptions and not the rule and fall under the category of one of my fav sayings, "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."
Sticking with the fundamentals, Stylophora pistillata naturally occurs (primarily) in shallow water environments with strong water flow. You can experiment (carefully – especially with new imports requiring dim light at first) with high light placement of this coral in your tank, but know that it is not necessary. Rather than pale, watery pink (still quite pretty) specimens getting torched by enough MH lamps over your display to melt the acrylic braces, consider more moderate lighting (7 – 10k K color and around 5 watts per gallon) for arguably a more stable specimen with a still likely handsome (perhaps darker) pink color. I proffer the specific mention of colors under light here with full knowledge that you will find specimens in a range of color including tan/brown/crème/purple and green. And that color is not only influenced by lighting alone. It's just that pink is the most popular color and these generalizations will contribute usefully for most keepers… at least getting you in the right direction to get/keep the pink color you may want
And finally, an interesting note about reproductive strategies. For reef aquarists interested in propagating this species and seeking better results or some kind of challenge beyond simple fragmentation, do remember what family this coral is in and the track record of its kin. Specifically I'm referring to Poccillopora damicornis. The aforementioned, as many of you know, is a remarkably hardy and fast growing Poccilloporid that very readily planulates asexually (as early as 4 months old from settled planulae itself!). There is good reason to believe that close kin like Seriatopora and our topic today of Stylophora can certainly do the same. And considering how very slow Stylophora is to frag and reproduce (for profit/trade) for most people, the potential for acts of planulation producing hundreds or even thousands of settled divisions in our aquaria is very appealing! So what's the trick? Well… I cannot say definitively, but I have some very strong suspicions. Beyond the obvious need for good water quality (avoiding overcrowding and competition as with dreadfully overstocked garden reef aquaria) and nutrition, I suggest that you grow out your colony undisturbed (no fragging!) for at least two years for it to reach a critical mass. Other corals have demonstrated this need to reach a critical mass for sexual maturity and have proven to produce more divisions of coral than any number of slow, albeit, successful fragmentation methods over the same period of time. I point to the photosynthetic Neptheids as a prime example. Pinching off branches is slow but successful… yet done too aggressively, the parent/donor is slow to regrow and yield new branches. Yet if you wait some months or a couple of years without cutting or pinching it, they readily drop branchlets and even planulate asexually with the planulae maturing in plain view in fascinating brood pouches right upon the stalk of the coral!
Well… that about sums up my rant on the COW. Please share your input and pictures for the archives and the benefit of all.
with kind regards,
Anthony
