Any reefer that has been around a while has learned to never discard dead coral skeletons until you really know it’s dead. I typically stash them in a corner or in a cave out of sight to see if there is a chance for new life to grow. I was curious about how new corals come back to life and in my searching I found there is a name for this, the Phoenix Effect.

In my research I found that cryogenic methods of storing coral tissues are being developed. Scientist are now able to store living coral tissue in a deep frozen suspended animation for long periods of time. This can be beneficial for preserving corals that may be facing extinction.

I’ve witnessed the Phoenix Effect in action on corals such as acans, fungia plates, euphyllias and even chalices.