It's a bouncing baby..........plate coral!!

[Scavenger]

Thanks for the reply TheReefGeek, I'm sorry, I should have been more clear in my "theory." I didn't mean that the pearl bubble spawned the plate, and I am aware of the asexual reproduction.What I was wondering if in the wild, (aka ocean) they sexualy spawn similar to (for example) oysters where when the "spawn" occurs, a conception may occur from this impersonal way of getting a date. By that I mean free floating oyster goodies hookin up!! LOL.
After which the larva free swim for a stage before attaching to a solid surface and growing it's calcium shell.

My theory is the plate coral takes this one step further. It attaches to a solid surface until it grows to a sufficient mass as to not be blown about the ocean bottom and able to anchor itself on a sandbed by it's own weight. Only then does it "de attach".

I hope that made sense, it was hard to desrcibe without major word count!

[TheReefGeek]

Perhaps! And yes I understand you now.

Do you know if the coral it was growing on was fragged at a LFS or caught from the wild?

[Scavenger]

I suspect wildcaught but unknown.

[TheReefGeek]

Well pretty cool either way, nature rocks!

[OCDP]

That is pretty neat.. free coral man!

Neat finding though.. let us know how the coral turns out!

Your suspicion about their reproductive cycle is correct.