#NameTheBowerbanki – a Coral Naming Contest, Spring 2021
23 Apr, 2021
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!

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.”

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!

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:

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!
Related Terms:
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About the author
84 Comments
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April 23, 2021
This is one sweet coral, I would call this on “Rainbow Honeycomb”
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April 23, 2021
How about:
Hanky Panky Bowerbanki
Or Hanky Panky BankyI can’t believe I actually rhymed… 🙂
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April 23, 2021
Carolina Nebula
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April 23, 2021
Blue Jean Baby
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April 23, 2021
Strawberry circus
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April 23, 2021
Intergalactic Rainbow Homophyllia Bowerbanki
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April 23, 2021
The Brent Mydland
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April 23, 2021
“Cryptic Cosmos”
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April 23, 2021
Blue Independence
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April 23, 2021
Eye of Davy Jones
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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.
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April 23, 2021
blue eyes
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April 23, 2021
“Galaxy’s Edge”
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April 23, 2021
Beautiful bowerbanki! How bout, “joker goes wild”!
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April 24, 2021
Soul of the REEF
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April 24, 2021
Rainbow Caverns
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April 24, 2021
Gravity Shake
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April 24, 2021
The Big Lebanki
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April 24, 2021
Carolina Beauty
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April 24, 2021
Sugar rush
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April 24, 2021
Parallel Universe
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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. -
April 27, 2021
Gobstopper ( the multi-layer colors)
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April 27, 2021
Blue Moon Bowerbanki
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April 27, 2021
I would call it the Carolina gold rim reaper bowerbanki
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April 28, 2021
Mackey Crater Lakes Bowerbanki
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April 28, 2021
This beauty needs a name that is grand! Disco Volcano is my suggestion!
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April 30, 2021
Purple Haze
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April 30, 2021
Aurora Borealis – Bowerbanki …. color of the northern lights!
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April 30, 2021
Yellow Brick Road Bowerbanki.
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April 30, 2021
Hello,
This coral is very dreamy and gorgeous!
I would name it “Purple Dream” bowerbanki. -
April 30, 2021
Purple Powerbanki!
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May 01, 2021
Treasure Island
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May 02, 2021
Blue Magic Bowerbanki
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May 02, 2021
Saint Elmo’s fire
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May 03, 2021
Liz Taylor
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May 05, 2021
Berry-blast bowerbanki.
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May 07, 2021
This looks like “a mid summers night dream”.
It reminds me of a night sky with the stars out. -
May 12, 2021
Looks like a maze of freeways, how about “Gridlock”
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May 18, 2021
The Power Bower
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May 20, 2021
You could name it after a superhero that wears purple and gold, “Batgirl”
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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. -
May 21, 2021
Purple dragon’s eye
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May 21, 2021
Such a sweet piece, must be called (The One!)
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May 22, 2021
I think it needs to have a localized name: Carolina Chasm
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May 22, 2021
Rainbow volcanos
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May 22, 2021
“MeteorShite” H. bowerbanki
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May 22, 2021
AC AZUL BURNING GOLD NEBULA
KIND LOOKS LIKE NEBULA LOVE IT.
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May 22, 2021
CA AZUL BURNING GOLD NEBULA
had to fix the AC TO CA .
FOR CAROLINA AQUATIC -
May 22, 2021
Banana bruise bowerbanki
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May 22, 2021
Carolina Cosmic Crusher
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May 22, 2021
“Dazed and Confused”
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May 22, 2021
Clotted Honeycomb
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May 22, 2021
Starry Night Bowerbanki
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May 23, 2021
PowerBand
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May 23, 2021
Gamma-ray Burst
Gamma-ray Blast
Gold Rush -
May 23, 2021
I would name this coral Neptune’s Crown
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May 24, 2021
I’d name it the Carolina Hurricane Bowerbanki
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May 25, 2021
CA Crown of the Reef Bowerbanki
Or
CA Gold Ridge Mountains Bowerbanki -
May 25, 2021
Purple Passion
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May 25, 2021
Prismatic Spring Bowebanki
Or
Yellowstone Bowerbanli -
May 25, 2021
It looks like gold and fine gems so I’m going with, “Pirate’s Booty Bowerbanki”.
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May 25, 2021
Irwin’s Soul Bowebanki
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May 25, 2021
“Brain Childs Hive”
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May 25, 2021
Witch’s Cauldron
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May 25, 2021
Tarheel Twist
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May 25, 2021
Gravity Field
or
Eternal Abyss -
May 25, 2021
‘Corbomite’
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May 25, 2021
Aurelian Sunshine
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May 25, 2021
Carolina Aquatics Event Horizon
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May 26, 2021
Mind Melt!!..
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May 27, 2021
Carolina Cosmos
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May 27, 2021
CA Sweet Caroline
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May 27, 2021
How about the Tie-dyed Tar Heel Bowerbanki?
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May 28, 2021
Call this the CA Carolina Caviar
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May 28, 2021
Sirens Song Bowerbanki
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May 28, 2021
Luscious Berry Banks
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May 29, 2021
Venom Favites
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May 29, 2021
Rainbow Labyrinth
Rainbow Maiden -
May 30, 2021
Luigi Lips
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May 31, 2021
The name should be: The Stirring Sea Symphony.