#NameTheBowerbanki – a Coral Naming Contest, Spring 2021

23 Apr, 2021

If you live in the lower-48 United States, and you can come up with a winning trade name, a piece of this incredible Homophyllia bowerbanki and a 3-year CORAL Magazine subscription could be yours, courtesy Carolina Aquatics and Reef To Rainforest Media, LLC!
If you live in the lower-48 United States, and you can come up with a winning trade name, a piece of this incredible Homophyllia bowerbanki and a 3-year CORAL Magazine subscription could be yours, courtesy Carolina Aquatics and Reef To Rainforest Media, LLC!

Learn more about the unique new Bowerbanki coral imported by Carolina Aquatics, and be sure to read the official rules and then submit your entry in the comments section of this page.

NOTE – THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED! VIEW THE WINNERS HERE!

 

At A Glance

#NameTheBowerbanki
Homophyllia bowerbanki
Carolina Aquatics
Kernersville, North Carolina
carolinaaquatics.com
Geographic Origin: Mackay, Australia
Light Level: Moderate
Flow Level: Moderate
Care Level: Easy
Photographer: All images by Jeremey Shenk/Carolina Aquatics.
Notes: This unique Homophyllia bowerbanki was collected water at a temperature of 75F (24C) and a depth of 24 feet (8 m), on the top of a reef in the vicinity of Mackay, Australia. The gold-yellow ridge coloration is highly unusual in this species. It arrived in the United States at an import price in the four-figure range, and thus, this stunning Bowerbanki was destined for the band saw!

Carefully divided into fragments, the coral is being placed into aquaculture production at Carolina Aquatics. But what to call it? Carolina Aquatics is offering a one-polyp frag from this coral to the person who names this new cultivar!

Keep reading to find out how you could be the lucky reef aquarist who wins!

A full view of the original—and extremely expensive—colony that will serve as the foundation for a new line of cultivated Bowerbanki at Carolina Aquatics.
A full view of the original—and extremely expensive—colony that will serve as the foundation for a new line of cultivated Bowerbanki at Carolina Aquatics.

Bringing A Rare Coral To Market

Kris Cline, founder and president of Carolina Aquatics, had been sharing images of this stunning coral with CORAL editors from the very moment it first became available, excitedly wondering if it was worth the investment. Coming to the decision to spend more on the importation of a single coral colony than many individuals make in a month’s salary is not an easy decision. As he reflected on the decision, he said, “I know we ‘overpaid’ for it, but the reality is that the collector was going to get that price from somebody.”

This large Bowerbanki arrived in the US at the start of March, and a few weeks later after settling in, it was cut up into approximately 55 frags. “Cutting up that piece was rough,” said Cline. “It hurt me a little bit. But, we’re expanding our coral farm, so cutting up coral should not bother me. But when you have a piece like this, that’s so pristine, so beautiful, it’s just tough. In the back of my head, though, I know that piece is going to be grown and spread out amongst countless reef hobbyists. That, in a way, makes it better.”

Not even half of the frags created from the original wild Bowerbanki colony. Most of the frags here will be grown out as the first generation, and then fragged again to create a second generation.
Not even half of the frags created from the original wild Bowerbanki colony. Most of the frags here will be grown out as the first generation, and then fragged again to create a second generation.

This is a coral that Cline aims to keep in ongoing cultivation at his Carolina Aquatics facility. “We will probably sell a few frags early on, but I’d really like to get at least one generation’s growth under our belt before we start selling them. These corals grow so slow, that in order to consistently produce a steady supply of frags it will take a lot more than what we have now. Otherwise, we’d have to limit sales strictly to a couple of pieces here and there.

“When cultivating a coral like this Bowerbanki, one polyp can yield 6-10 smaller polyps, and then you cut off the new polyps and wait for the next generation to grow. I’m guessing it will be three or four months before we see the first noticeable extra polyps on the frags we recently made. I predict it will be at least a year, but probably two years, before we’re really ready to push out quantities of this coral.”

Thankfully, while a slow grower and an incredibly rare variety, Kline feels that Bowerbanki corals do well in captivity. “I feel like they’re very similar to an Acan Lord. They’re overall pretty easy, you can feed them, but you don’t have to. We notice better growth when we feed.”

All that’s needed now is patience while these corals grow, and a name!

You Could Win One Of These, So It’s Time To Get Creative!

One lucky and creative aquarist who resides in the lower 48 United States, may win a one-polyp frag, similar to the one shown here, from the new and yet-to-be-named Bowerbanki!
One lucky and creative aquarist who resides in the lower 48 United States, may win a one-polyp frag, similar to the one shown here, from the new and yet-to-be-named Bowerbanki!

The aquarist who supplies the name chosen for this new coral cultivar will receive a frag of the new coral, compliments of Carolina Aquatics. Shipping to continental U.S. (lower 48 states) only. See contest rules below:

Carolina Aquatics is wholesale only to the aquarium trade.
Carolina Aquatics sells wholesale only to the aquarium trade.

GRAND PRIZE

A single (1) Bowerbanki Coral Frag of the currently unnamed variety, similar to the ones shown here
(available only to entrants only in the lower 48 continental United States, where permitted)

and

a Three-Year Subscription to CORAL Magazine
(available to all entrants)

Three Runners-Up

One-year Digital Subscription to CORAL Magazine
(available to all entrants)

OFFICIAL RULES

1] The #NameTheBowerbanki contest is open to everyone except contributors, advertisers, and staff of CORAL Magazine, Reef to Rainforest Media, LLC, along with employees of Carolina Aquatics and its subsidiaries, as well as the immediate families of all the aforementioned.

2] The live no-name Bowerbanki coral frag prize option will be shipped only to an address in the continental U.S. (lower 48 states).

3] To enter, you must comment on this page with your proposed name for the no-name Bowerbanki coral cultivar. Entrants must include a valid email address in the email field, required for contacting the selected winner. In the event that the winner cannot be contacted, no prizes will be awarded to any other participant. CORAL / Reef to Rainforest Media, LLC, is not responsible for entries not received/marked as spam on Reef2Rainforest.com; be sure your comment is in public view.

4] Deadline for entries is 11:59 PM EST, May 31st, 2021.

5] One winning name will be selected from all entries by Carolina Aquatics. Three runners-up will be chosen by the editors of CORAL Magazine. Winners will be announced on this website.

6] In the event that there are multiple identical/duplicate submissions of the winning name, only the first person to have submitted the name will be eligible to receive the prize. All comments are time-stamped and saved by the website software for accurate determinations.

7] Shipment of the live coral prize to the winner is handled by Carolina Aquatics. Given the exclusive nature of this coral, no guarantees of live arrival or subsequent survival are made by CORAL, Reef To Rainforest, or Carolina Aquatics.

8] In the event that the prize becomes unavailable due to circumstances beyond the control of Carolina Aquatics, a similar, comparable frag coral will be furnished by Carolina Aquatics.

9] Any and all applicable taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner(s).

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES BELOW! You have until May 31st, 2021!

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About the author

Avatar photo
Reef To Rainforest

Reef to Rainforest Media, LLC is the publisher of award-winning magazines and books in the fields of aquarium keeping, aquatics, and marine science. It is the English-language publisher of CORAL Magazine and is based in Shelburne, Vermont, USA.

84 Comments

  1. April 23, 2021

    This is one sweet coral, I would call this on “Rainbow Honeycomb”

  2. April 23, 2021

    How about:

    Hanky Panky Bowerbanki
    Or Hanky Panky Banky

    I can’t believe I actually rhymed… 🙂

  3. April 23, 2021

    Carolina Nebula

  4. April 23, 2021

    Blue Jean Baby

  5. April 23, 2021

    Strawberry circus

  6. April 23, 2021

    Intergalactic Rainbow Homophyllia Bowerbanki

  7. April 23, 2021

    The Brent Mydland

  8. April 23, 2021

    “Cryptic Cosmos”

  9. April 23, 2021

    Blue Independence

  10. April 23, 2021

    Eye of Davy Jones

  11. April 23, 2021

    A beautiful bowerbanki! It’s definitely out of this world so I would call it “Saturn’s Rings” Hope we see this in the future.

  12. Al
    April 23, 2021

    blue eyes

  13. April 23, 2021

    “Galaxy’s Edge”

  14. April 23, 2021

    Beautiful bowerbanki! How bout, “joker goes wild”!

  15. April 24, 2021

    Soul of the REEF

  16. April 24, 2021

    Rainbow Caverns

  17. April 24, 2021

    Gravity Shake

  18. April 24, 2021

    The Big Lebanki

  19. April 24, 2021

    Carolina Beauty

  20. April 24, 2021

    Sugar rush

  21. April 24, 2021

    Parallel Universe

  22. April 27, 2021

    Splendid Talavera Mosaic Bowerbanki Coral.
    The combination of rust colors with bright blue and yellows resembles a piece of Talavera Mosaic artwork.

  23. April 27, 2021

    Gobstopper ( the multi-layer colors)

  24. April 27, 2021

    Blue Moon Bowerbanki

  25. April 27, 2021

    I would call it the Carolina gold rim reaper bowerbanki

  26. April 28, 2021

    Mackey Crater Lakes Bowerbanki

  27. April 28, 2021

    This beauty needs a name that is grand! Disco Volcano is my suggestion!

  28. April 30, 2021

    Purple Haze

  29. April 30, 2021

    Aurora Borealis – Bowerbanki …. color of the northern lights!

  30. April 30, 2021

    Yellow Brick Road Bowerbanki.

  31. April 30, 2021

    Hello,
    This coral is very dreamy and gorgeous!
    I would name it “Purple Dream” bowerbanki.

  32. April 30, 2021

    Purple Powerbanki!

  33. May 01, 2021

    Treasure Island

  34. May 02, 2021

    Blue Magic Bowerbanki

  35. May 02, 2021

    Saint Elmo’s fire

  36. May 03, 2021

    Liz Taylor

  37. May 05, 2021

    Berry-blast bowerbanki.

  38. May 07, 2021

    This looks like “a mid summers night dream”.
    It reminds me of a night sky with the stars out.

  39. May 12, 2021

    Looks like a maze of freeways, how about “Gridlock”

  40. May 18, 2021

    The Power Bower

  41. May 20, 2021

    You could name it after a superhero that wears purple and gold, “Batgirl”

  42. May 21, 2021

    I would name this Stella-collectio.
    Latin meaning star collection. Fingers crossed in hopes I win. Best of luck to each and everyone who submits a name.

  43. May 21, 2021

    Purple dragon’s eye

  44. May 21, 2021

    Such a sweet piece, must be called (The One!)

  45. May 22, 2021

    I think it needs to have a localized name: Carolina Chasm

  46. May 22, 2021

    Rainbow volcanos

  47. May 22, 2021

    “MeteorShite” H. bowerbanki

  48. May 22, 2021

    AC AZUL BURNING GOLD NEBULA

    KIND LOOKS LIKE NEBULA LOVE IT.

  49. May 22, 2021

    CA AZUL BURNING GOLD NEBULA

    had to fix the AC TO CA .
    FOR CAROLINA AQUATIC

  50. May 22, 2021

    Banana bruise bowerbanki

  51. May 22, 2021

    Carolina Cosmic Crusher

  52. May 22, 2021

    “Dazed and Confused”

  53. May 22, 2021

    Clotted Honeycomb

  54. May 22, 2021

    Starry Night Bowerbanki

  55. May 23, 2021

    PowerBand

  56. May 23, 2021

    Gamma-ray Burst
    Gamma-ray Blast
    Gold Rush

  57. May 23, 2021

    I would name this coral Neptune’s Crown

  58. May 24, 2021

    I’d name it the Carolina Hurricane Bowerbanki

  59. May 25, 2021

    CA Crown of the Reef Bowerbanki
    Or
    CA Gold Ridge Mountains Bowerbanki

  60. May 25, 2021

    Purple Passion

  61. May 25, 2021

    Prismatic Spring Bowebanki
    Or
    Yellowstone Bowerbanli

  62. May 25, 2021

    It looks like gold and fine gems so I’m going with, “Pirate’s Booty Bowerbanki”.

  63. May 25, 2021

    Irwin’s Soul Bowebanki

  64. May 25, 2021

    “Brain Childs Hive”

  65. May 25, 2021

    Witch’s Cauldron

  66. May 25, 2021

    Tarheel Twist

  67. May 25, 2021

    Gravity Field
    or
    Eternal Abyss

  68. May 25, 2021

    ‘Corbomite’

  69. May 25, 2021

    Aurelian Sunshine

  70. May 25, 2021

    Carolina Aquatics Event Horizon

  71. May 26, 2021

    Mind Melt!!..

  72. May 27, 2021

    Carolina Cosmos

  73. May 27, 2021

    CA Sweet Caroline

  74. May 27, 2021

    How about the Tie-dyed Tar Heel Bowerbanki?

  75. May 28, 2021

    Call this the CA Carolina Caviar

  76. May 28, 2021

    Sirens Song Bowerbanki

  77. May 28, 2021

    Luscious Berry Banks

  78. May 29, 2021

    Venom Favites

  79. May 29, 2021

    Rainbow Labyrinth
    Rainbow Maiden

  80. May 30, 2021

    Luigi Lips

  81. May 31, 2021

    The name should be: The Stirring Sea Symphony.

  82. Avatar photo
    June 01, 2021

    THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SUBMITTED A NAME! Stay tuned for the winner!

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