Coral Morphologic

Human-Coral Symbiosis ◦ Est. 2007 ◦ Miami, Florida

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With surface temperatures rising rapidly amidst rafts of sargassum seaweed, a special mission took place on July 10th with the University of Miami's Lirman Lab and Rescue a Reef to collect staghorn coral fragments from the Coral City Camera site and Miami Beach's nearshore Neon Reef. The fragments were then brought several miles offshore to UM's deeper-water nursery, where the water is cooler and UV radiation less intense. Before hanging them from a new coral tree anchored in 60' of clear blue water, we preserved small tissue samples for lab analysis by Dr. Steve Vollmer at Florida Atlantic University to investigate the genetic and microbial basis of their resilience. 

By banking clones of these corals offshore, the aim is to increase their chance of survival by moving them to an environment where they will hopefully avoid bleaching later this summer. While the genotype native to Port of Miami (aka ACER 'Ventura') did not bleach in the heartbreaking summer of 2023, we don't want to risk losing this extremely resilient strain to the global heat building in 2026's unfolding Super El Niño. We are grateful for the Neon Reef shore diver community, especially Ashley Schmidt, who provided GPS coordinates to locate several small colonies of staghorn corals just a few hundred feet offshore one of the busiest beaches on the planet. Collectively, we want to ensure that these genetics can be amplified, studied, and hopefully outplanted in a manner that restores functional habitat to Miami's nearshore reefs in the future. The real test comes in August when our summer heat peaks. Hopefully these corals can withstand the summer in these nearshore environments, but it is relieving to know that in a worst-case scenario, the University of Miami has banked them in different locations to preserve their lineages for future outplanting and research. Thanks again to Dr. Diego Lirman, Dr. Allyson Demerlis, and the entire Rescue a Reef team for making this time-sensitive trip possible!

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The Corals That Shouldn’t Exist - bioGraphic

Beneath Miami’s skyscrapers, a colony of corals defies expectations—and offers insight into other undersea urban ecosystems.

Read an in-depth feature on the history of Coral Morphologic's prime focus: the urban corals of Miami. From Biographic Magazine.

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On this World Oceans Day we are proud to unveil the latest extension of the world’s longest underwater timelapse, starting May 1, 2023, and running for three years through May 1, 2026. This period covers summer 2023’s unprecedented coral bleaching mortality event, and indeed multiple corals can be seen bleaching, but then recovering and growing through 2024 and 2025 into 2026.

Of greatest interest to us is the success and proliferation of the urban strain of staghorn coral native to PortMiami (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER ‘Ventura’). Not only has it not bleached yet, but it has also proliferated extremely fast. In just four years, a single branch of ACER 'Ventura' has increased thousands of times in biomass, to the point that we now have one of the densest thickets of this endangered coral in the State of Florida (in the Intercoastal Waterway no less)!

Over the past year, these corals have endured significant temperature extremes. With our new Aqualink buoy, we recorded late summer temps reaching 90F (32.6C) and 2026 winter lows of 60F (15.5C). This represents a huge range of thermal tolerance for this strain of critically important reefbuilding coral, and a reminder that corals grown for nearshore reef restoration in Florida need cold-stress adaptation as well as heat-stress.

Working with our partners at NOAA AOML and University of Miami's Rescue a Reef, we continue our scientific investigation into the mechanisms of the strain's resilience, and continue to amplify it for the purpose of restoring Miami’s nearshore reefs.

Of particular interest is observing how dynamic the sediment is at the site. PortMiami is subject to intense currents, magnified by passing ships displacing huge volumes of water. Despite these unnatural conditions, the corals and fish have adapted well to this anthropogenic environment.

Our ability to timelapse the growth of PortMiami’s urban corals highlights the scientific value of the Coral City Camera and its ability to document what was previously undocumented. After 6 years of near-continuous recording and cataloging 220 fish species, no underwater coral reef site anywhere in the world has been as thoroughly recorded and archived.

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the Coral City Camera and our ongoing work studying and protecting Miami's urban corals you can do so here via our fund at the Key Biscayne Community Foundation @ https://www.kbcf.org/programs/coral-city-foundation/

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We are happy to announce the publication of a new research paper by University of Miami coral scientist Dr. Allyson DeMerlis in collaboration with Coral Morphologic. This paper studied the genetic changes staghorn corals (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER) underwent when transplanted from an offshore nursery to the inshore urban habitat at the Coral City Camera in PortMiami. Typically, staghorn corals are grown for restoration in offshore hanging ‘tree nurseries’ under stable, ideal water conditions. However, the reefs most in need of restoration are typically inshore of these nurseries and/or have suffered coral mortality due to deteriorating water quality. Understanding how endangered staghorn corals adapt to less-than-ideal conditions is the first step towards selecting strains that can survive long-term and restore Florida’s reefs. The paper, titled ‘Transcriptomic response of Acropora cervicornis following transplantation to a marginal, nearshore environment’ was published in the research journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The Coral City Camera site at PortMiami offers an ideal location to study and monitor experimental coral transplants from offshore. By transplanting nursery-grown Acropora cervicornis into the highly urbanized, marginal habitat of the Port of Miami, Dermerlis’ research explores the frontier of urban coral resilience. Four months after outplanting, these staghorn corals demonstrated an impressive 92% survivorship. Despite facing greater thermal extremes and the dynamic stressors of a man-made waterway, the corals successfully persisted. This proves that the city’s coastal edges can serve as a vital real world laboratory for testing the acclimatization capacity of reef-building corals.

The secret to the staghorns’ survival appears to lie deep within their molecular biology. The transcriptomic data reveals that these urban outplants underwent a massive genetic shift, significantly upregulating 961 host and symbiont genes compared to their offshore nursery counterparts. The corals achieved this by maintaining a sustained activation of environmental stress response and innate immunity pathways, actively synthesizing heat shock proteins, managing unfolded proteins, and boosting cellular defense mechanisms. This persistent genetic plasticity suggests that they are actively acclimatizing to their novel environment. Ultimately, this research underscores that the future of marine conservation depends on leveraging this molecular flexibility, guiding us to select the most rugged, stress-tolerant genotypes to populate the resilient coral cities of tomorrow. We look forward to supporting further research and collaboration with Dr. Demerlis and the University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef restoration program to help rebuild Miami’s nearshore reef communities.

Read the paper in full @ https://coralmorphologic.com/b/2026/05/26/transcriptomic-response-of-acropora-cervicornis-following-transplantation-to-a-marginal-nearshore-environment

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Meet the urban corals of Coral City. Believe it or not, every coral that settled here naturally has done so within the last 15 years.

The limestone boulders that comprise the 'reef' here are known as riprap… basically rocks that fortify shorelines against erosion. Fifteen years ago PortMiami needed to fortify their shoreline and used premium white limestone boulders. Physically and chemically ideal for coral growth. Since 2011 they’ve become an extraordinary real world experiment for understanding coral recruitment and adaptation in the Anthropocene. From about 10' deep the boulders rise steeply up the shoreline to a high berm that protects the crucial Biscayne Bay Pilots station from the open Atlantic Ocean. The strong tidal currents that alternate between clear offshore water and nutrient rich Bay water is perfect for corals and filter feeding sponges. Fifteen years on and twenty five species of stony corals call this riprap home. Many of the oldest brain corals are approaching 30" in diameter. Scores of endangered mountainous star corals (Orbicella faveolata) have settled; many are 15" in diameter and reproductively capable. From Meandrina to Mycetophyllia, Coral City is home.

From any reef restoration perspective the site would be considered a resounding success. But it isn't a reef restoration project, it's quite literally a byproduct of urban infrastructure. And yet the site shows astounding biodiversity recruitment and stress resilience. It is a glimmer of hope in a sea of bad news. All in all, Coral City is a pretty good place to be a coral, and we're grateful for the opportunity to have spent the past 6 years studying and documenting the anomalous paradise that your tax dollars built. The Coral City Camera's motto is 'Civic Pride Through Biodiversity' and we're proud to live in a City where the coral and fish and human co-exist peacefully.

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Scientists record world's longest underwater timelapse. What is reveals is astonishing | Discover Wildlife

The 1,000-day underwater timelapse, recorded on an urban reef in Miami, shows corals bleaching before making a miraculous recovery.

Thank u BBC Wildlife Magazine for the CCC timelapse feature!

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We are proud to reveal a 1,000 day coral bleaching and recovery timelapse, starting May 1st 2023 and running through January 28, 2026. This period covers summer 2023’s unprecedented coral bleaching mortality event, and indeed multiple corals can be seen bleaching, but then recovering and growing through 2024 and 2025 into 2026.

Watch 30fps and 60fps versions of the above 10fps timelapse here and here.

Of greatest interest to us is the success and proliferation of the urban strain of staghorn coral native to PortMiami (Acropora cervicornis aka ACER ‘Ventura’). Not only did it not bleach, but has grown swiftly. In just four years, a single branch of ACER ‘Ventura’ has increased thousands of times in biomass, to the point that we now have one of the densest thickets of this endangered coral in the State of Florida!

Just in the past six months, these corals have endured significant extremes in temperature. With our new Aqualink buoy, we recorded late summer temps reaching 90F (32.6C) and recent 2026 winter lows of 60F (15.5C). This represents a huge range of thermal tolerance for this strain of critically important reefbuilding coral, and a reminder that corals grown for nearshore reef restoration in Florida need cold-stress adaptation as well as heat-stress.

Working with our partners at NOAA AOML and University of Miami’s Rescue a Reef, we continue our scientific investigation into the mechanisms of the strain’s resilience, and continue to amplify it for the purpose of restoring Miami’s nearshore reefs.

Of particular interest is observing how dynamic the sediment is at the site. PortMiami is subject to intense currents, magnified by passing ships displacing huge volumes of water. Despite these unnatural conditions, the corals and fish have adapted well to this anthropogenic environment.

Our ability to timelapse the growth of PortMiami’s urban corals highlights the scientific value of the Coral City Camera and its ability to document what was previously undocumented. After 6 years of near-continuous recording, and nearly 220 species of fish cataloged, there is no underwater coral reef site anywhere in the world that has been as thoroughly recorded and archived!

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the Coral City Camera you can do so here via our fund at the Key Biscayne Community Foundation:

Coral City Foundation - Key Biscayne Community Foundation

The Coral City Foundation aims to maximize the scientific and civic value of the corals growing on Key Biscayne sea walls, jetties, causeway

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At long last we are happy to announce the publication of a research paper documenting the uncomfortable relationship of a male yellowtail parrotfish (Sparisoma rubripinne) with a juvenile sharksucker remora (Echeneis naucrates). The paper, titled ‘Underwater video reveals novel behavioural interactions: a case study of a repeated ongoing association between a sharksucker Echeneis naucrates and a yellowtail parrotfish Sparisoma rubripinne,’ has been published in the research journal Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom by Cambridge University Press.

The Coral City Camera was instrumental in documenting this relationship and allowed observations to be made that would otherwise have been extremely difficult for a researcher underwater. Remoras are typically associated with large marine fish, mammals, and sea turtles upon which they hitch a ride and benefit from eating its hosts’ leftover food scraps and gaining protection. However, on a smaller fish like a yellowtail parrotfish, it appears that this relationship is less mutualistic and more parasitic. The paper documents the long-term multi-month association with a single male yellowtail parrotfish (we dubbed ‘Ramón’) with a juvenile remora. It is likely the longest documented association of a remora on a single parrotfish. From observations on the CCC, it appeared that Ramón struggled with its remora based on its behavior of scratching itself against the sand and substrate in apparent efforts to dislodge it, and suffering visible scrapes and scratches in the process. We also observed that when Ramón attempted to rest, it appeared annoyed with its wiggling guest and unable to sleep properly.

Over the 5-year course of the Coral City Camera we have observed remoras on multiple smaller fish species, including a wide variety of parrotfish. But yellowtail parrotfish seem to be the most common hosts, and appear to host them for longer periods of time than other fish species.

Read the paper in full @ https://coralmorphologic.com/b/2025/08/26/underwater-video-reveals-novel-behavioural-interactions-a-case-study-of-a-repeated-ongoing-association-between-a-sharksucker-echeneis-naucrates-and-a-yellowtail-parrotfish-sparisoma-rubripinne

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Watch a highlight reel from the CM-shot ‪coral fluorescence segment featured in National Geographic's ‬America's National Parks 'Biscayne' episode.

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Real Coral Reefs of Miami: A Q&A with the marine biologist behind a popular livestream

Colin Foord discusses the Coral City Camera.

Check out an interview on the CCC with Popular Science.

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Check out the live performance of Aqua Garden Flow, our 2023 audiovisual collaboration with Laraaji and Robert Beatty.

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Millions watch as underwater camera documents daily life on a Miami coral reef

For five years, the Coral City Camera has given viewers a live look at aquatic reef life near Miami. It's documented the declining condition

This month marks 5 years of the Coral City Camera, our ongoing live stream of Miami’s underwater world! To celebrate this milestone, have a listen to an NPR 'All Things Considered' segment with Colin.

Thank You to everyone who has watched, chatted, and shown support over the years!

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The National Geographic America's National Parks 'Biscayne' episode featuring a Coral Morphologic coral fluorescence segment is now available to watch in full 🪸🔦🪸

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Our soundtrack ‘Anthozoa’ off the just-released Topo Chico x Terrestrial Funk Sabores Sounds EP is now available to stream and download on all platforms. Have a listen!

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We are proud to unveil the limited edition Reef x Coral Morphologic Homeys, a Coral Morph-inspired cushioned slipper that celebrates the warmth and color of the coral reef during the winter months, when ocean time is limited.

Available in blue / neon green in men’s and tan / white in unisex, every sale benefits the Coral City Foundation’s efforts to upkeep the Coral City Camera and support ongoing CCF restoration projects. A perfect slipper to kick back and tune in to the CCC, the Coral Morph Homeys redefine the concept of the home shoe while making a meaningful impact.

Shop the Reef x Coral Morphologic Homeys @ https://www.reef.com/products/mens-slippers-cushion-homey-blue-coral?variant=45318821281947

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The physical release of our 2nd album of cosmic ocean tunes - Coral Morphologic 2 - is now available from Miami’s best, Terrestrial Funk!

Pick up a copy in person at the Terrestrial Funk record shop in Miami's design district, or order @ https://terrestrialfunk.com/products/coral-morphologic-coral-morphologic-2-tf011presale

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A new scientific paper has been published in the research journal Frontiers in Remote Sensing titled ‘Automatic detection of unidentified fish sounds: a comparison of traditional deep learning with machine learning” authored by Xavier Mouy et al, which analyzed week-long hydrophone recordings of the Coral City Camera site at PortMiami in order to detect fish sounds.

The researchers found that using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) enabled detection of fish sounds that both human analysts and traditional spectrogram data analysis otherwise could not detect. The CNN was trained using hydrophone recordings made in British Columbia, but proved accurate in the novel environment at PortMiami, even despite significant background noises from boats. The software developed for this study is open-source and available to other researchers.

Stay tuned in the coming months as we prepare to connect a hydrophone to the Coral City Camera and provide an audio channel to the YouTube livestream. If possible, we aim to incorporate real-time analysis of the underwater sounds to help monitor and track fish activity.

Click to read ‘Automatic detection of unidentified fish sounds: a comparison of traditional deep learning with machine learning'.