Members of the Gables Earth Club with the 300 gallon Coral Morphologic reef aquarium post-installation in 2015.

In September 2015 the lease ended on our first lab warehouse and we had to downsize our systems. We decided to donate our 300 gallon glass reef aquarium system–complete with all the gear, rocks, and corals–to the students of Coral Gables Senior High School in order to plant the seeds of reefkeeping and coral aquaculture in the next generation. The lab is maintained by student members of the Gables Earth Club, and overseen by faculty science teacher Mr. Eric Molina. We believe that no other activity accomplishes the goals of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) better than reef keeping, and includes an added R for Responsibility (STREAM). While math and science can be taught from textbooks, the holistic act of coral aquaculture requires hands-on attention and care. We’ve observed firsthand how these students understood the assignment and really have gone above and beyond to care for these delicate creatures.

The aquarium in 2016.

These Palythoa sp. zoantharians contain a remarkably potent chemical, palytoxin, proven to selectively destroy cancerous cells.

Several years ago we were excited to report that our survey of Zoantharian soft corals from South Florida had resulted in the identification of several undescribed species. Today, we are even more excited to report that one of these Palythoa species zoantharians, collected off the PortMiami seawall, contains an extremely powerful compound with proven anti-cancer properties. Coral Biome, our partners in Europe, have officially received a patent for the chemical’s extraction and application in the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. From Coral Biome’s inception in 2011 in Marseilles, France, we have been assisting them in the collection, identification, and aquaculture of soft corals that produce medically-valuable chemicals, a process known as ‘bioprospecting’.

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We’re psyched to share a soundtrack of ours (‘Strand’) is part of Other Electricities‘ new “call and response” LP, where Emile Milgrim and T. Wheeler Castillo’s Floridian field recordings are included in original and remixed forms. Stream Archival Feedback via Spotify and pick up the album in digital and vinyl / deluxe editions @ https://other-electricities.bandcamp.com/album/archival-feedback

A morphing loop of ‘The Humongous Fungus Among Us Issue’ photographed under daylight, blacklight, and fluorescence filter.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the August, 2014 offering from VICE Magazine, ‘The Humongous Fungus Among Us Issue’, which features a special blacklight-reactive cover depicting Zoanthus polyps cloned and photographed in the Coral Morphologic lab. The issue’s contents are also available online, including the cover story, ‘Miami Is Drowning‘, by John McSwain.

We are honored to be featured in the most recent issue of the UM Magazine and have one of our photos featuring a menagerie of our colorful Ricordea florida color morphs grace the cover. The article highlights the contributions of University of Miami alumni (’04) and Coral Morphologic co-founder Colin Foord to the body of science and public understanding of coral reef organisms through site-specific and multi-media artworks. The aquacultural legacy continues with our mentorship of University of Miami marine science students who get hands on experience growing corals within our Overtown laboratory.

We are psyched to announce the release of a series of skateboard decks in collaboration with MIA Skate Shop featuring the photography of three different fluorescent corals that call Miami their home. The collaboration is a logical extension of our view of Miami as the Coral City. A city whose cement buildings are metaphorical monuments to the fossilized remains of an ancient coral reef that once ran through it. Skaters will now be able to skate through a city of coral (recycled as concrete) on boards that reflect its bio-geologic past, present, and future. Miami, a city where vertebrate and invertebrate life-forms are forever bonded through calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate skeletons that were once enveloped with fluorescent coral tissue now form the foundation for a neon metropolis that mirrors its coral reefs. A metropolis with an Atlantean destiny, where corals will one day recolonize the streets and buildings as their own.

The limited edition decks (3 color-ways, hand numbered editions of 50) will be available starting Saturday, May 25 at the release party, and at both MIA shops in Miami Beach and Sunny Isles, Florida.

Four Floridian zoanthids analyzed in our study. Clockwise from Top Left: 1) Undescribed Zoanthus aff. pulchellus 2) Undescribed Palythoa aff. variabilis 3) Zoanthus solanderi 4) Undescribed Terrazoanthus sp.

Recently, we spearheaded a study of the Zoanthids found in our local nearshore waters that has been published in the Journal of Marine Sciences titled ‘Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida‘ with Dr. James Reimer and Yuka Irei of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. This is the first comprehensive study of its kind, analyzing DNA to determine the taxonomic authenticity of our local zoanthid species. We discovered that there are as many as four species of zoanthids in South Florida that have been overlooked by scientists until now.

Despite their ubiquitousness in shallow tropical waters, zoanthids have been largely neglected by marine biologists who have otherwise been more focused on understanding reef-building stony corals, leaving the taxonomy of tropical zoanthids vague and out of date. This, combined with the natural morphologic variability of these animals, makes physical identification difficult for the casual observer. The advent of DNA analysis has allowed for an accurate picture to emerge, and it is clear that there is much more diversity than had previously been recorded.

Read ‘Species Diversity of Shallow Water Zoanthids (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia) in Florida‘:

Coral Morphologic is featured in the February 2012 edition of Ocean Drive Magazine.

Catch us in the Miami New Times’ 2011 People Issue. Pick up a print edition on November 23rd.

We are thrilled to share that Colin will be counted as a speaker at the TEDxMIA 2011 annual conference Between The Lines, September 13th at the New World Center on Miami Beach. He will expound the adaptational prowess of an extremely rare “hybrid” Caribbean stony coral (Acropora prolifera) he discovered while exploring the waters of Biscayne Bay and Government Cut. Click here to read an interview with Colin on the meaning of this find and what it predicts for the future of Florida’s coral reefs.

We were disheartened to receive a call from our good friend Lauren Reskin, owner of Sweat Records, this past Sunday with the news that her store had been broken into, thieved, and trashed. The worst karmic act committed was the wanton destruction of the Red Sea Max that we installed and maintained as a gift to her store and our friends that frequented it. We set up the aquarium at the very end of November 2007 for the opening of Sweat’s third incarnation here in Miami.

According to the police, the thieves cut through the security gates of the store’s back entrance early Sunday morning and proceeded to steal the store’s computer, electronic equipment, several pieces of art from the walls and… knock over the aquarium.

This what we arrived to find (minus the live rock and corals that we had already gathered up by this point in our effort to revive what we could.

Sweat Records was closed on Sunday, so it wasn’t until almost 9 pm Sunday night that Lauren happened to be driving by her store and noticed the break in. It is likely that the contents of the aquarium were dry for over 18 hours.

We arrived at Sweat Records in a daze, unable to believe that someone would go through the trouble of destroying an aquarium just for the thrill of instant destruction, until we saw it with our own eyes. We were expecting the worst; that nothing could possibly still be alive.

All of the fish were dead. We hypothesize that the impact and subsequent shock-wave of the aquarium shattering against the floor must have killed them immediately as there was several inches of standing-water still on the floor that could have otherwise provided them with refuge.

However, there was some good news. Both of the harlequin serpent stars and a porcelain crab showed minimal signs of life, despite being nearly dry. When plopped into a plastic bag with water, they revived within a few minutes. The snails and blue leg hermit crabs all survived. We were initially highly skeptical that the Discosoma sp. corallimorphs would survive 18+ hours out of water, but we gathered up all of the pieces of live rock and brought them back to our facility anyhow. We didn’t want to put them into our holding or grow-out systems, as we were afraid that if they died as we expected, they would only foul the water. Instead, we placed them in two 18 gallon mortar tubs with heavy aeration and a power head and hoped for the best.

The severed arm of a harlequin serpent star is seen above. Fortunately, the serpent survived the ordeal and more than 18 hours out of water. It will regenerate this arm in short time. The fish weren’t so lucky.

To attest to the ruggedness of the Red Sea Max, the hood and even the light bulbs remained undamaged despite the brute force impact. Likewise, the RSM’s silver stand escaped even minor scratches despite landing face down. The two return pumps were the only other parts of the RSM beside the actual glass aquarium that had to be thrown out. Because the electrical cords never pulled out of the wall, they continued to run dry after the fall.  This caused them to overheat and melt together! The Current 1/10hp chiller managed to unplug itself and therefore survived with nary a blemish.

We were relieved the following morning to find that most of the corallimorphs were recovering nicely. Now, almost a week later, they have nearly made a complete recovery. We did lose a few polyps, but I’d estimate at least 80% survivorship.

Unfortunately, we did lose about half of the pink coralline algae from the live rock. Coralline algae does the most amazing thing when it dies; it fluoresces a bubble gum pink color. While temporarily beautiful, it soon turns to a dead white bleached state within a day or so. If anyone knows why this phenomenon occurs, please inform us. To lose this much coralline algae cover from your live rock after nearly a year of cultivation is a real bummer.

You can see a fluorescence photograph of the live rock below:

The dying pink crustose coralline algae fluoresces after death. The photograph was taken under blue wavelength (450 nm) light to maximize fluorescence. Several gold and green Discosoma sp. can also be seen fluorescing, despite 18 hours out of water.

While dismayed at losing this aquarium, and just as it was maturing into an exceptional little reef aquarium, we are not deterred. Sweat Records will be holding a series of benefit concerts in the next several weeks to help raise money for a better security system and a new aquarium. We hope to have another aquarium up and running by the time of Sweat’s first anniversary of being in their current location. We’ll keep you posted.

Here are a couple of articles written by local blogs about the break in:

Miami New Times

ARTLURKER

Today my good friend Carlos and I made a morning dive excursion off of Miami to visit the Neptune Memorial Reef. I had heard about this artificial reef quite a while ago when it had been originally proposed to simply be a “replica” of Atlantis. It seems that the goals of the project shifted towards a more realistic and profitable goal by becoming the world’s first underwater cemetery and memorial park. The first phase of construction was completed in November 2007, and I’ve been looking forward to taking a first-hand look ever since.

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To those in the 305 area code (786 too!), we’ll be leading the first edition of the Sweat Science Club. Get urself blinded by science!

Jared and I spent a really great day out on Biscayne Bay with our good friend Carlos. Carlos has a classic 25-foot Boston Whaler, aptly named “Slingshot”. No frills, just good boat. We had hoped to do an underwater photography mission on some local Miami reefs, but my camera kit acted up at the last second (figures), so we scrapped the shoot and enjoyed a day on the water instead. We cruised down south out of Coral Gables’, past ‘Mt. Trashmore’ (a huge stinking landfill), past the Turkey Point nuclear reactor, and then around the tip of Elliot Key, before heading back north along the ocean side of the Keys.

We saw several solitary dolphin jumping and quite a number of Portuguese man-o-war ‘jellyfish’. These animals aren’t true jellyfish, but are actually a colony of tiny hydroid-like polyps called siphonophores, that link together in long, powerfully stinging tentacles. I’m not sure exactly how the colony is able to produce the gas-filled float that allows it to catch the breezes, perhaps someone else can educate me there. Maybe these creatures know something…

The most noticeable thing about being out on the water in Biscayne Bay is just how much bigger the Miami skyline has gotten in the past 8 years from when I first arrived in the MIA. It’s pretty impressive looking now, but I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen to all those new, vacant condo high rises what with the real estate bubble all but imploded. Even the buildings that are recently completed seem mostly unoccupied. You can look up the whole front of a building, and see not one piece of deck furniture, or any other piece of evidence suggesting that it is otherwise occupied. And even still, they are breaking ground on new buildings, even in the wake of the obvious real estate market crash. The wild card for Miami though, is whether the declining dollar will bring in a bunch of buyers from Europe and South America who want a Club Land getaway residence. I think that this would be preferable, in that these buyers would probably be a lot less reliant upon the city’s unprepared infrastructure. I don’t think that downtown Miami is capable of supporting the population increase that would come with permanent residents living and working in the area. In any case, from out on the water, the city looks Magic.