Reef-building corals are affected by partial colony mortality due to various factors. Tunnicliffe (1981)noted that Caribbean acroporids exhibit the fastest growth at the distal edges of the colonies and older,basal regions sustained higher rates of mortality. Lirmanand Fong (1997b) observed tissue loss in many (73%) of their tagged fragments; fragments lost 61% of their original tissue area over an 11-month period, but surviving fragments had begun to develop vertical growth features. In the present study, surviving fragments had tissue on approximately half of their upper branch surfaces after 2 years. Although reattached fragments on the Fortuna Reefer site appear to have fared better than unrestored fragments in Florida and elsewhere in Puerto Rico, differences may be related to specific environmental parameters that vary among locations. In addition, the amount of tissue remaining on the branch surface may be less important for long-term survivorshipthan the ability of fragments to reattach and develop new vertical branches. In both studies, fragments had lost a considerable portion of their living tissue, but many were developing proto-branches, indicating that continued growth was occurring