It's a bouncing baby..........plate coral!!

[Scavenger]

For about a year, I watched this small growth on the side of my pearl bubble coral grow from a tiny nub to a dime sized disk. I always thought, "Cool, it's growing a new head."

Anyway, one day it was just gone. I was a bit bummed, after a few days, I found it on the sandbed in a low flow spot and low and behold in it's proper environment it turns out to be a baby plate coral.

I couldn't tell before because it never extended in the current. It is now about the size of a nickel and seems to be turning pink and green. Wish my camera was workin, I'd love to post a shot.

Anyone have any knowledge if this is the normal way plates reproduce and grow (by attaching and growing off other corals or rocks ect.? I meant)

Passin out the virtual cigars, I'm a surrogate coral daddy!!

[TheReefGeek]

No, I do not believe this is the normal way they reproduce, and reproduction is pretty rare.

Baby plate corals grow off extensions of other plate corals, not other types of corals! Somehow this baby must have attached itself, very unlikely but it is the only way.

Most of the time when plate corals reproduce it is actually because of a trama to the plate coral that kicks of its instinc to reproduce. Then after the trama is over, they sometimes keep reproducing in the home aquarium.

Maybe this baby will give you other babies some day!

[Scavenger]

Thanks for the reply TheReefGeek, I'm sorry, I should have been more clear in my "theory." I didn't mean that the pearl bubble spawned the plate, and I am aware of the asexual reproduction.What I was wondering if in the wild, (aka ocean) they sexualy spawn similar to (for example) oysters where when the "spawn" occurs, a conception may occur from this impersonal way of getting a date. By that I mean free floating oyster goodies hookin up!! LOL.
After which the larva free swim for a stage before attaching to a solid surface and growing it's calcium shell.

My theory is the plate coral takes this one step further. It attaches to a solid surface until it grows to a sufficient mass as to not be blown about the ocean bottom and able to anchor itself on a sandbed by it's own weight. Only then does it "de attach".

I hope that made sense, it was hard to desrcibe without major word count!

[TheReefGeek]

Perhaps! And yes I understand you now.

Do you know if the coral it was growing on was fragged at a LFS or caught from the wild?

[Scavenger]

I suspect wildcaught but unknown.

[TheReefGeek]

Well pretty cool either way, nature rocks!

[OCDP]

That is pretty neat.. free coral man!

Neat finding though.. let us know how the coral turns out!

Your suspicion about their reproductive cycle is correct.