HONOLULU -- The Waikiki Aquarium has a reputation for propagating corals and now some new material from the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument.

Coral fragments were recently collected in waters off French Frigate Shoals and Maro Reef during the annual Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program and were brought to Oahu in specially designed holding tanks.

"We collect these small fragments of corals, a couple inches, 1 to 3 inches in size, size colonies that won't hurt the mother colonies very much, and we can take those colonies and then those colonies will grow into larger colonies here at the aquarium," biologist Richard Klobuchar said.

They will grow the corals out and use them in a new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands exhibit scheduled to open at the aquarium in late 2010 or early 2011.