The Lab

Mother colonies to endpoints, under one roof in Brittany.

Coral mother colonies, in-house cutting production, testing, and assessment, all under one roof in Arzal, Brittany. Our lab doesn't sample wild reefs and doesn't depend on external coral sourcing. The same lab serves cosmetic formulations and marine / industrial ecotox programs.

Reviewed by Vincent Bourgeteau, President

Vincent Bourgeteau is a biologist and President of ReefTox (EcoSeaStems SAS), a closed-loop coral ecotoxicology laboratory in Brittany, France.

Inside the closed loop

A row of coral cultivation tanks in the ReefTox closed-loop laboratory in Arzal, Brittany
The cultivation tank row in Arzal, Brittany. Fragments are cut in-house from our own mother colonies, and each test uses fresh fragments with no reuse.

50

Coral species (up to)

30

Coral genera

3

Ocean regions covered

2-3

Week acute turnaround

Indo-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean. Hard SPS, hard LPS, and soft corals.

A mint-green coral colony cultivated in the ReefTox closed-loop system
Taxonomic breadth is cultivated, not sourced. Colonies like this one grow alongside branching and plating forms in the closed-loop system.

Methodology

Acute and chronic coral protocols, quantified end to end.

A labelled exposure beaker holding a live coral fragment, part of a concentration series under blue light at ReefTox
A concentration series prepared for exposure, with 6 replicates and 6 blanks per concentration.

Acute

96-hour contact, with 6 replicates and 6 blanks per concentration. 50 mg/l realistic-exposure standard concentration. Renewal at 48h.

Endpoints: EC50, LOEC, NOEC.

Chronic

3 months of exposure plus 1 month of recovery across 5 concentrations (EC determination) plus 1 concentration (confirmatory). Three lunar cycles, the minimum for biologically meaningful chronic results.

Endpoints: EC10, EC50. Chronic PNEC where the use case requires it.

Quality controls

Annual positive controls run with both mineral and organic UV filters. Fresh coral fragments per test, no reuse. Every endpoint quantifiable and auditable.

Measured parameters

Bleaching (computer-assisted), tissue loss, mortality, morphological and behavioural anomalies (polyp debilitation, mesenteric filament ejection), before/after photography.

Acute pre-validation across 13 laboratories in 6 European countries is documented in Bao et al. 2024 (Toxics 12(1):1).

Inside the lab

A row of coral cultivation tanks under blue lighting in the ReefTox facility

Inside the ReefTox closed-loop lab, Arzal, Brittany. Reef husbandry systems where coral mother colonies are cultivated, next to the bench where exposure racks are prepared.

Why closed-loop

We cultivate our own corals because the rest of the chain depends on it.

No wild sampling

Mother colonies are cultivated on site. Cuttings are produced in-house. Our methodology does not deplete reef ecosystems.

No external dependency

Husbandry, cutting production, testing, and assessment are all under one roof, which is why the acute turnaround is 2-3 weeks instead of 12-16.

Taxonomic depth

Up to 50 species across 30 genera, hard SPS, hard LPS, and soft corals, representative of Indo-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean reef ecosystems.

Macro photograph of a live Acropora coral colony cultivated in the ReefTox closed-loop laboratory
Live Acropora mother colony cultivated in the ReefTox lab, Arzal, Brittany.

Which side of the lab do you need?

A ReefTox technician at the coral cultivation vat under actinic light
Husbandry at the cultivation vat. The same bench serves cosmetic formulations and marine ecotox programs.

Cosmetics & SPF

Test a cosmetic formulation or SPF ingredient →

Free predictive pre-evaluation, then live-coral testing documented in a defensible coral ecotox report.

Marine & Industrial

Add coral to your marine ecotox program →

Antifouling, ballast, scrubber, drilling, cruise. Scoping call, no public price list.