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This large taxonomic grouping includes two phyla: the Ctenophora (comb jellies) and the Cnidaria (Hydrozoans [hydras, fire coral, Portuguese Man‐O‐War], Scyphozoans [jellyfishes], and Anthozoans [stony corals, soft corals, sea anemones]). This is an economically important group for research, environmental monitoring, public and private display, tourism, and to a lesser degree human food. Coral reefs collectively are one of the most beautiful, diverse, economically important, and fragile ecosystems on the planet. The most common surgery performed on coelenterates involves fracturing pieces of hard coral or cutting segments of soft coral for propagation. This surgical process is referred to as “fragging” in the hobby industry. The technique requires some creativity and foresight, but the procedures are easy to master. For hard coral fragging, remove large “parent” corals from a system and fracture off small sections with a suitable instrument (e.g. rongeurs, bone cutters) and then secure carefully to a pedestal or other firm substrate with waterproof adhesive. Figure 4.3 shows a system full of “frags.” For soft corals, use sharp scissors to sever a suitable fragment that can be attached to a substrate with monofilament suture.

Figure 4.1 This schematic shows the cellular structure of a sponge (Halisarca dujardini). The dotted line represents an area of surgical excision.

Source: Borisenko et al. (2015).

Figure 4.2 This schematic shows three stages of regeneration in the sponge, Halisarca dujardini. (a) Normal sponge. (b) Formation of a “regenerative plug” (Stage I). (c) Formation of a “blastema” (Stage II). (d) Ectosome and choanosome restoration (Stage III). Cell colors correspond to Figure 4.1.

Source: Borisenko et al. (2015).

Another process that is occasionally utilized with corals is transplantation. Much work has gone into the process with many species belonging to both invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. With coelenterates, autogenous grafts generally take well, but allografts and xenografts do not (Bigger and Hildemann 1982). In the case of corals, polyps from the same colony can be surgically removed and then attached to another area of the colony with good success as long as freshly cut polyps are placed adjacent to one another (Hildemann et al. 1974).

Coelenterates have an amazing ability to heal and regenerate. This has been know and studied for well over a century (Metchnikoff 1892; Bigger and Hildemann 1982). Amebocytes play an important role in the healing process and it appears that specialized “wound cells” are involved in the initial reaction and healing process, at least in anemones (Young 1974).

Figure 4.3 This aquarium is filled with coral “frags” representing a number of species and morphological types.

One can purchase commercial fragging kits from companies such as Tamsco (Bridgeview, IL), TB Aquatics (Flemington, NJ), and DR Instruments (Palos Hills, IL). Numerous demonstration videos can be found on “YouTube” that illustrate the process of fragging corals.