First corals on the scene

[crrichey]

Hello. I was just curious as to which corals often begin to colonize destroyed reef areas after hurricanes, typhoons, and other natural disastors.

[david8956]

In his book "Aquarium Corals", Eric Borneman wrote "Xenia are noteworthy corals. they are among the first colonizers of a reef area................ They are capable of competitively excluding other early colonizers, like Stylophora, Pocillopora, and Heteroxenia species by dense overgrowth". Hope this helps.

[crrichey]

Thnx, I had actually read that last night, but was wanting to hear about some other species, lol!

[MCsaxmaster]

Acropora and Montipora often are amongst the first to arrive as well.

[G-money]

You sure about that? I'm pretty sure Acropora (especially) are more of a "climax community" species.

[crrichey]

Thnx guys

[MCsaxmaster]

Many Acropora live in climax communities, but many also are pioneer species.

[EricHugo]

Acropora, Millepora, Pocillopora are common first settlers, as are anything that have more than a once-a-year spawning efffort such as some brooding species, or anything that spreads fast asexually (like Xeniids).

[crrichey]

Lol, I had forgoten about this thread, thanks anyways though!