Fluorescent proteins from coral to macroalgae?

[Mike Ordner]

Has anyone seen this in their tanks. I have a red macro algae I believe in the genus Chondria. Anyways, when a piece of this algae comes in contact with a coral it becomes fluorescent under blue light. Not the whole algae, just the part that touched the coral. Only thing I can think of is some sort of transfer from the coral to the algae. Is this common? Maybe not since most people rip out any algae that might compete for space in their tanks.

 

[Fredfish]

I saw this in another persons tank with two different red alga he has. He told me this was normal. As far as I could tell it had nothing to do with what the algae was in contact with.

 

[enchelycore808]

I have a couple algae that react to the blues and all have been a type of red algae. I dont think it is transfer from the coral but could be that that part of the algae was slightly damaged. My dasya tends to fluoresce Orange on tips that are damaged or new growth.

 

[erndog1001]

Just about every square inch of rock in my tank (that doesn't have coral on it) is covered with some kind of algae. Now the color is not as bright as the corals by a long shot. BUT it is VERY obvious to anyone that is slightly fluorescent. And I've had people who know nothing about our hobby ask me when they see it what it is. And yes it is a reddish brown/orange color