Coral cultivating catches on
By DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Monday, February 12, 2007
enlarge
Staff photo by Jim Evans
The Sinularia coral will regenerate after a cutting is taken.
enlarge
Staff photo by Jim Evans
A freshly cut soft coral needs to be held in place until it can grow onto the rock and hold itself.
Today's Top Headlines
from the Kennebec Journal
Coral cultivating catches on
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All of today's: News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
FAIRFIELD -- A maroon clownfish peers from the waving tentacles of a sea anemone, then quickly retreats, disappearing into a shimmer of live coral.
The sight is intoxicating -- a glimpse into the life of a tropical coral reef.
And it is all happening on a snowy back road in rural Maine and, along the way, is helping to save the wild coral reefs of the world.
"That's Nemo's cousin," Penny Harkins, owner of Aqua Corals, Reef Aquariums, said of the 3-inch fish with the gold stripe. "She keeps backing off because you're new. She's a little bit timid of you."
The scene is played out among the splendor of 60 saltwater aquariums at Harkins' business on Nyes Corner Drive, off U.S. Route 201.
Hard corals and soft corals share space in these glass worlds with exotic clams that fan out like iridescent purple flowers, sea horses and invertebrates that include shrimp, starfish and sea mats. Harkins says she has 200 varieties of coral, 70 of which are for sale.
Corals live in the shallow waters of warm tropical seas. They are listed in three classes.
n Soft coral, which do not build a stony skeletal base.
n Large polyp stonies, which build stony skeletons that become reefs, but have soft, fleshy-tissue tops.
n Small polyp stonies, which are over 90 percent calcium and are the real reef builders.
"Those are corals that are not only on display but they're parents to the babies I make -- I actually go in there and cut those," Harkins said.
story continued
Staff Writer
Monday, February 12, 2007
enlarge
Staff photo by Jim Evans
The Sinularia coral will regenerate after a cutting is taken.
enlarge
Staff photo by Jim Evans
A freshly cut soft coral needs to be held in place until it can grow onto the rock and hold itself.
Today's Top Headlines
from the Kennebec Journal
Coral cultivating catches on
Developer, state set to close on Arsenal parcel
Consolidation plan generates some concerns
Dirty chimney = peril
Families at play outdoors
Fashion with metal; new duties for a pair
Mims hits home
Purington completes comeback
All of today's: News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
Today's Top Headlines
from the Morning Sentinel
Elusive donkey still on lam
Chimney fire danger seen
Fairfield business brings bit of tropics to Maine
Crash cause still unknown
Indian music draws attention
Project uses pizza to preach culinary consciousness
Purple Panthers ranked No. 1
Purington completes comeback
All of today's: News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
FAIRFIELD -- A maroon clownfish peers from the waving tentacles of a sea anemone, then quickly retreats, disappearing into a shimmer of live coral.
The sight is intoxicating -- a glimpse into the life of a tropical coral reef.
And it is all happening on a snowy back road in rural Maine and, along the way, is helping to save the wild coral reefs of the world.
"That's Nemo's cousin," Penny Harkins, owner of Aqua Corals, Reef Aquariums, said of the 3-inch fish with the gold stripe. "She keeps backing off because you're new. She's a little bit timid of you."
The scene is played out among the splendor of 60 saltwater aquariums at Harkins' business on Nyes Corner Drive, off U.S. Route 201.
Hard corals and soft corals share space in these glass worlds with exotic clams that fan out like iridescent purple flowers, sea horses and invertebrates that include shrimp, starfish and sea mats. Harkins says she has 200 varieties of coral, 70 of which are for sale.
Corals live in the shallow waters of warm tropical seas. They are listed in three classes.
n Soft coral, which do not build a stony skeletal base.
n Large polyp stonies, which build stony skeletons that become reefs, but have soft, fleshy-tissue tops.
n Small polyp stonies, which are over 90 percent calcium and are the real reef builders.
"Those are corals that are not only on display but they're parents to the babies I make -- I actually go in there and cut those," Harkins said.
story continued
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