Briar Coral

Anacropora sp.

Also known as Briar Patch Coral, Anacropora

SaltwaterCoral

Briar Coral (Anacropora sp.) — Biota · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 11.8 in (30 cm)
Minimum tank: 26 gal (100 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Easy
Rarity: Rare
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Indo-Pacific lagoons and turbid fringing reefs
Family: Acroporidae

Overview

Give it settled small polyp stony coral conditions, meaning stable alkalinity, moderate light in the range of roughly 100 to 300 PAR, and medium to high flow that should increase as the thicket thickens. Acclimate it to light gently, as sudden intensity jumps bleach the thin branches. It is more forgiving of nutrients than most of its family, but the fine skeleton snaps under careless hands, so place it away from traffic and give the colony room to sprawl.

In the wild

Anacropora favors turbid lagoons and soft-bottom fringing reefs across the Indo-Pacific, places siltier and murkier than most small polyp stony corals will tolerate. Colonies grow as open thickets of thin, tapering branches that interlace as they expand, which is where the briar patch name comes from. In good conditions a patch can spread quickly across the surrounding bottom.

Good to know

The genus sits in the family Acroporidae beside Acropora and Montipora, and the name literally signals that it is not an Acropora, because it lacks the axial corallite that tips every Acropora branch. Its skeleton is thinner and more brittle than either relative, so wild and captive colonies alike shed fragments easily. Growth is fast for a stony coral once a colony settles in.

Did you know

The same brittleness that makes briar coral awkward to handle is how it spreads, since snapped branches simply keep growing where they land, and that habit makes it one of the easiest small polyp stony corals to propagate.