Route Edition EE
R66 Crown Watermelon
Acropora sp.
Original from Route 66 Marine
Established April 7th 2015

Reeffarmers then saw the same species at Route 66 Marine in February 2015. It had also been exported from Australia, but the coloration pattern was different. The Route version had bright red pink axial corallite tips and bright red pink radial corallites. Branch stems were not yellow, but they were a watermelon green. Alvaro suggested the name watermelon so we decided to call this coral the Crown Watermelon. Polyps have bright white tentacles and a patterned center polyp area.

As of early April 2015, there are three known surviving colonies of the Crown Acropora in Europe. Alvaro Acierno in Italy has the Crown Lemonade Acropora and there is a second colony of that Crown morph in Europe. Also Claude Schuhmacher of Germany has a different Crown morph that is colored Blue Purple. Apparently these corals are found in Australia GBR at 20 to 25 meter depths and Alvaro recommends moderate to weak light. Some people have bleached out the coral under 400 watt halides and strong LED lights. Alvaro recommends T5 lighting and calls the coral a medium deep water. Reeffarmers thinks it can be adapted to moderate to strong light over a period of time.

Reeffarmers is maintaining a seed section of this coral in a 8 foot Raceway Gyre BiZonal system. This system is naturally filtered with a semi-cryptic zone and a reef flat exposed zone. In this captive reef the coral is positioned to receive moderate light and moderate to strong water current. The first edition fragment of this coral was sold privately to Dennis Sandoval. Suggested list price on April 7th 2015 is $185 for a small fragment. Please note we have upgraded this coral to an Exclusive Edition since Route 66 Marine lost the colony due to an accident. As of may 22nd there are only two known surviving fragments besides the Reeffarmers seed. The second edition was sent to Bruce Sliddal.