Dragon Soul Richard McKellips Seed Colony. This amazing Favia species
coral from Australia can develop some exotic pigmentation patterns. When viewed from far away there are
three distinct areas of pigments: a bright green corallite center; a dark purple inner ring and the
upper ridges which develop red pigments. This image of Richards colony demonstrates how the coral
appears when the tissue is fully expanded.
The captive US exotic coral market has begun to see some absolutely incredible Reef Building Stony
Corals exported from Australia during 2007. The first corals that attracted lots of attention were
the Acan Lords, but we are also starting to see some incredible Australian Favia Brain corals with
exotic pigmentation patterns. The Dragon Soul Favia species Brain has a ringed pigmentation pattern.
The inner corallite wall has a distinct dark purple that contrasts with the center corallite color
and the upper corallite ridge color. This purple inner wall gives the coral a ringed appearence.
Corallite ridges are colored red while the inner corallite area is bright green. The red ridge
coloration can vary depending on the health of the coral. This red fluorescing pigment appears to be
stimulated to fluoresce brighter with some green light illumination. So the ridges may appear more
red under 10,000 to 14,000 K halides. The coral also develops a bright green leading growth edge.
Reeffarmers acquired our seed fragments from Richard McKellips
with mobileaquatic.com . We were also
offered a fragment of the coral from Miguel with
FraggleReef at around the same time. Both Miguel and Richard acquired their corals from the same
exporter/importer and they have mutually agreed upon the Dragon Soul name.
Steve Tyree is maintaining a seed section of this coral for Reeffarmers.com in a 125 gallon
naturally filtered TriZonal system. This system is naturally filtered with a cryptic zone,
filter feeder zone and reef flat exposed zone.
In Steve's captive reef the coral is positioned 20 inches away from a 400 watt 20,000 K Radium
metal halide. The coral appears to develop its most intense coloration under moderate
illumination. It may appear more red under 10,000 to 14,000 K halides. Price is
currently $75 per fragment containing a single large corallite. The quarterly limited edition
reservation schedules can be found below.
Dragon Soul Favia Reeffarmers Seed corallite closeup. This corallite
closeup demonstrates the incredible rainbow pattern of different colored pigments that this coral can
develop. The upper right leading edge of this coral develops bright green pigments. The corallite center
is solid medium to bright green. The inner wall or ring of the corallite has a dark purple coloration. This
purple changes to red at the upper inner wall ridge. The purple coloration is caused by a
combination of red and blue pigments. These blue pigments are most dense nearer the inner corallite center.
TM
