The Immortal Tort is a unique strain ofAcroporathat is part of one of the most interesting origin stories of perhaps any coral in the reef aquarium hobby. As far as we know the image above is one of the only documented cases of the collection of an established aquarium coral strain in the reefing hobby, because we collected it ourselves.
2015年6月，我们与蒂姆·凯利（Tim Kelley）一起前往所罗门群betway官网推荐岛UCSI进行一些珊瑚探索，看看我们是否可以发现一些令人难忘的珊瑚。除了重新发现原始紫色怪物acroand paying some respect to紫色的蒙蒂托拉digitata，6月21日下午4:51，在Buena Vista群岛的Sandfly通道附近，我们发现了一个非常漂亮的Acropora。
这种珊瑚在陡峭的礁石坡上生长，深度约为35英尺，并显示出绿色主树枝的颜色惊人的颜色，美丽的蓝色树枝，较轻的蓝色尖端和半瓶洗的生长形式，让人想起一个薄的分支Acropora Gomezior a thick branchingA. echinata。有趣的珊瑚与一些分支一起生长porites,Australogyra，一些黑海绵，Pavona varians, and we know all of the details thanks to several in-situ images we made that included the geotag with time stamp etc.
自从我们第一次收集我们的东西以来已经快六年了想法是石灰绿瓶刷Acroporawith blue tips but as with so many corals under aquarium conditions, especially SPS, this Acro had something completely different in mind when it settled into our reef aquarium displays. Under blue-heavy reef aquarium lights the colonies of the Immortal Tort are deep blue to deep purple with lighter growing tips and very slightly greenish axial polyps.
But one of the more surprising things about the Immortal Tort is that the片段从较大的菌落中看起来几乎是无法识别的，具有相对于大小的颜色梯度。当它们最小的时候，碎片几乎是蓝绿色的，内部有蓝色的管状珊瑚岩和息肉。
The coloration of the Immortal Tort becomes bluer, deeper and richer with size until our largest colonies become almost completely blue purple with an enticing thick branching structure. The difference between the frags and the colonies is so striking that experienced SPS growers who see it in person almost can’t believe that they are from the same colony.
So by now you might be wondering why this coral is named the ‘Immortal Tort’ and that’s because we have almost never lost a piece of this coral. We’ve kept and grown the Immortal Tort in over a dozen reef tanks over the last half decade and through thick and thin, when other corals have struggled or suffered the Immortal Tort has never skipped a beat, growing steadily even when the conditions were less than ideal.
当我们第一次收集珊瑚时，我们最初认为这是Acropora Gomezi（不再被认为是一种物种），但随着时间的流逝，它的行为更像A. TortuosaandA. Austeragroup of SPS囚禁中的珊瑚。The Immortal Tort is highly reminiscent of the Oregon, Myiagi, or California ‘Torts’ in its growth form but its origin story and the dual ‘life stages’ between the frags and the colonies, coupled with its very hardy track record makes this one of our favorite corals, and certainly one of the best we’ve ever collected.
Due to its great, solid growth rate we’ve been fortunate enough to share the Immortal Tort with many different reefers over the years, including ACI Aquaculture who will soon have their first batch of frags ready for wholesale. The Tortuosa Acros have been well represented in the reef aquarium hobby for many years but if you’re interested in the story of the coral and especially where it came from and how it got here, definitely lookout for the very hardy and colorful Immortal Tort spreading through the hobby in the future.
