Protocol for the removal of coral tissue from the skeleton using an airbrush. Yields tissue slurry that can be used for biological assays and clean skeleton that can be used for surface area measurement.

Equipment

Equipment listed below are examples of what I have used and other brands can be substituted

• Whirlpaks
• Airbrush
• Sample Tubes
• Ziplock Bags
• Tweezers

Procedure

• Clean and steralize all equipment and use sterile tubes and bags
• Add filtered seawater to the airbrush
• Place coral into sterile bag
• Use air and liqid to remove tissue which forms a slurry in the bag
• Take care to avoid back splash from the airbrush, which could cause loss of the tissue
• Rinse coral skeleton with filtered seawater
• Cut corner from bag and drain into sterile tube
• Rinse bag to collect any remaining tissue
• Save coral for surface area estimation
• Record tissue homogenate volume and store tube or use in further assays