Thanks.
Excellent point Sharkboy. Most often, this mass expulsion is a desperete last ditch effort to survive a stressful condition. More often than not by the variables listed above. Great point you made though.
Chort55, yes, they will appear white, but that doesn't mean they are dead. The white you're seeing is most often the transparency through the coral after expulsion has occured. Usually from the gastric cavity and in some advanced cases, the entire dermal cell containing all of the algae can and will be expelled. Also, great point you made, the fact that they are spreading, proves that they are still alive and viable.
I would never purchase a bleached coral at full retail price though from a LFS. At a greatly reduced price, yes, and I have personally done so, as long as the coral is viable with tissue intact. Just hate seeing this when I do. It simply means the corals needs were not being met and the coral is simply trying to stay alive via mass expulsion of it's single cell algae.
Mucho Reef
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