TM

Limited Edition
Tierra Del Fuego Acropora
A Wet Thumbs Inc. Original
Limited Edition Tierra Del Fuego Acropora Reeffarmers Seed Top View.
The violet/purple coloration of the Tierra del Fuego is very apparent in this image.
Extended polyp tentacles and tentacles near branch tips are cream white to pink.
Retracted polyp tentacles in the mid to lower sections of branches are pink/red.
Also note in the base area near the top of this image some green pigmentation developed.
 Image Copyright © 2011 by Reeffarmers All Rights Reserved.
Is it red, pink, violet or purple ? The correct answer appears to be that the Tierra del Fuego actually contains all of those colorations. Dominant pigments when the coral is under strong light or stressed is violet/purple. When maintained under moderate to weak light, the coral appears more red/pink. Reeffarmers believes that the main pigmentation is a violet/purple that can be seen in the image above. In areas where brown algae pigments are dense, this violet/purple actually appears more red/pink. Stressed corals have less algae so the dominant violet/purple pigmentation is more visible. Corals under strong light develop smaller algae pigments and that will cause the color to shift toward the violet/purple shade. However, we have seen some morphs of this species that developed some rather intense red pigmentation (see last image below).

The amazing Tierra del Fuego was acquired by WT Inc. around the end of 2010. It was exported from western Australia. Dan and Tina originally coined the name Tierra del Fuego for this species and morph of Acropora. The name is Spanish for Fireland and there is actually a geographic location at the tip of South America with this name Tierra del Fuego. This corals pigments tend to become more red/pink in moderate to weak light. When maintained in strong light its pigments become more purple/violet. The coral can also appear more purple violet after shipping stress and while adapting to new captive conditions.

Steve Tyree is maintaining a seed section of this coral for Reeffarmers.com in a 130 gallon Raceway Gyre BiZonal system. This system is naturally filtered with a semi-cryptic zone and a reef flat exposed zone. In Steve's captive reef the coral is positioned to receive moderate to strong light levels from a 400 watt 20,000 K Radium metal halide. The first edition fragment of this coral was sold on our Buy It Now page. Introductory list price was $200 for the small fragment.

Limited Edition Tierra Del Fuego Acropora Wet Thumbs Branch Closeup Side View.
Violet/purple pigments can develop along the branch stems between corallites.
The corallites themselves can develop red/pink pigmentation.
Also note the green pigments that can occur within base areas of branches.
 Image Copyright © 2011 by Wet Thumbs Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Limited Edition Tierra Del Fuego Acropora Reeffarmers Branch Closeup Side View.
In some cases the branch stems between corallites can actually develop a cream coloration.
This particular branch also developed an intense pink pigmentation on the upper half of corallites.
Extended tentacles are cream white, while short tentacles are pink/red.
 Image Copyright © 2011 by Reeffarmers All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Reeffarmers All Rights Reserved.
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