What is this Coral?

[Oscar]

I have 3 patches of this coral on Cuban LR that I purchased of few months ago. The largest patch is the size of a quarter. Any ideas as to what this is?

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/prairie56/DSC_3337s.jpg


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/prairie56/DSC_3338s.jpg

[mark]

maybe Porites

[Myka]

Ya, or Stylophora, but I'm betting on Porites.

[CLINT]

is it hard to the touch or soft and slimey?Clint

[Oscar]

is it hard to the touch or soft and slimey?Clint

Thanks for the prompt responses! I have looked upporties in my various reference material, in particular "The Reef Aquarium Vol 1" and it seems like porite is a pretty good fit.

This coral is forming a "sheet" on the LR. Now that I have finally taken a photo of it I will be able to track its growth.

Sprung mentions strong light and good flow as well as relief from algae. Any other suggestions to encourage this coral?

I have not done the touch test to see if it is hard or slimey. What would that tell me?

[Oscar]

The previous photos were taken earlier today wiht the hallide on.

Now only the actinics are on and this is what the coral looks like:

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20/prairie56/DSC_3346s.jpg

[CLINT]

it just looks more like an acan or micromussa type coral.if it is slimey and seems to shrink it will not be porites IMO.You would only notice individual polyps retract into the hard skeleton when touched if it is porites.Clint

[Myka]

I can see clearly in that last photo (with just the actinics on) with the polyps partially retracted that it is definately Porites.

No way is it Acan or Micro.

[Snappy]

It's not porites, that is actually a variety of Siderastrea sp. which is considered an LPS. They can extend fairly long sweepers at night so give it some room.

[Zoaelite]

It's not porites, that is actually a variety of Siderastrea sp. which is considered an LPS. They can extend fairly long sweepers at night so give it some room.

Its not an acan/micro 100%, I was leaning towards porites but Greg is usually right when it comes to coral ID'ing so I would go with it being a Siderastrea.
Levi

*EDIT*
This is what a Siderastrea Sp. looks like (Thanks to google)
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/9600/siderastreasidereabelrw8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Oscar]

It's not porites, that is actually a variety of Siderastrea sp. which is considered an LPS. They can extend fairly long sweepers at night so give it some room.

I will have to check it for sweepers some evening, it does not look like it is capable of very long sweepers though.

[Snappy]

I will have to check it for sweepers some evening, it does not look like it is capable of very long sweepers though.
:lol: Many corals are deceiving. For example would you think a hammer or frogspawn would look like they do when inflated if you had only first seen them deflated with just their base skeleton showing? Anyway the sweepers on my baseball size Siderastrea extend anywhere from about 2" - 5"

[Oscar]

:Anyway the sweepers on my baseball size Siderastrea extend anywhere from about 2" - 5"

Snappy: Thanks for the insight. This is actually my first coral, I am still waiting until I am sure that my system has stabilized and that I figure out the Ca, Mg, alk issues until I add coral.

I still have plenty of algae, now that I know what this ceature is I will have to be a bit more vigilant in pruning algae around its perimeter.

Any special feeding requirements I should be aware of?

[Zoaelite]

:lol: Many corals are deceiving. For example would you think a hammer or frogspawn would look like they do when inflated if you had only first seen them deflated with just their base skeleton showing? Anyway the sweepers on my baseball size Siderastrea extend anywhere from about 2" - 5"

And if you think this is bad (at night time) take a look at a galaxy coral, their not shy at all with those tenticals.

Snappy: Thanks for the insight. This is actually my first coral, I am still waiting until I am sure that my system has stabilized and that I figure out the Ca, Mg, alk issues until I add coral.

I still have plenty of algae, now that I know what this ceature is I will have to be a bit more vigilant in pruning algae around its perimeter.

Any special feeding requirements I should be aware of?

Being an LPS coral target feeding small meaty foods will help this coral grow, still its said that 90% of energy captured by coral is from photosynthesis of their symbiotic algea so strong lighting and proper water conditions are the best way to maintain health.
Levi

[Whatigot]

Funny, I bought about 60lbs of Cuban LR at King Eds about 3 months back and had a good amount of this porite show up on mine as well and you will not find any sweepers coming from them.
Did you get a ridiculous amount of pistol shrimp (I have seen 9 in my tank at one time, who knows how many others are in there) as well?

I noticed while I was at JL that the corals like yours showing up on my rocks were the same as the symbiotic porites that exist with Christmas tree worms and sure enough, a tonne of them started to pop up recently on my LR as well.
I bet you will notice many of these on your rocks shortly.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=c-ixmas

[Oscar]

Did you get a ridiculous amount of pistol shrimp (I have seen 9 in my tank at one time, who knows how many others are in there) as well?

I noticed while I was at JL that the corals like yours showing up on my rocks were the same as the symbiotic porites that exist with Christmas tree worms and sure enough, a tonne of them started to pop up recently on my LR as well.
I bet you will notice many of these on your rocks shortly.



No pistol shrimp and no Christmas tree worms so far. I have had the Cuban LR for 2 months now so I suspect I have seen all of the wildlife that I am going to get. Lots of very small feather dusters.

[Whatigot]

Man, I guess I lucked? out with the pistols, it's actually amazing watching a colony of them.

Did you have a look at the link to JL's pic of the Christmas tree worms?
To me it looked Identical to the ones that popped up on my cuban LR when I looked in person and when I saw all the ctw come up recently it really made me suspect they were one and the same
I have been watching these things for 2 months and I have not seen sweepers once and I do a fair amount of night gazing....

What do you think?
thank you.

[Oscar]

Did you have a look at the link to JL's pic of the Christmas tree worms?

I have been watching these things for 2 months and I have not seen sweepers once and I do a fair amount of night gazing....


Yeah, thanks for the link. I am waiting until I am sure that my parameters have stabilized until I add any coral. I will be down at the Coast later this week so I will take a peek at that rock if any is in the store.

[Whatigot]

I think I wasn't clear.
I am wondering if you think that the coral you already have, the one that came on your liverock, is a match to the porites that are symbiotic with christmas tree worms as pictured in the link i posted earlier in this thread.
Again, I have the same coral on my LR from Cuba and I was certain it was porites, especially since I have seen no sweepers.
I was wondering if after having a look at the picture you might fathom a guess at if the porites that JL sells with its christmas tree worm rocks might be one and the same with the "mystery" coral you and I both had pop up on our LR...
Just looking for a second opinion, thank you.

[Oscar]

I was wondering if after having a look at the picture you might fathom a guess at if the porites that JL sells with its christmas tree worm rocks might be one and the same with the "mystery" coral you and I both had pop up on our LR...
Just looking for a second opinion, thank you.

I do not have enough experience in coral ID to hazard a guess, hence the reason for my original post.

[Whatigot]

you don't have enough experience to look at one picture and compare it to what you have?:razz:

Come on now, how do you think you gain experience in Coral ID?
By identifying corals I'd imagine.....:idea:


In any case, based on my experiences and observations; I think it's porites.

[Oscar]

you don't have enough experience to look at one picture and compare it to what you have?:razz:


I still check my driver's license to see what my name is, so no I am not going to hazard a guess on sketchy web photos.

[Whatigot]

hahahahaha....
Awesome.
That made my day.

[bv_reefer]

I still check my driver's license to see what my name is, so no I am not going to hazard a guess on sketchy web photos.
lmfao

[Snappy]

I guarantee the coral in that picture is not porites. Also christmas tree worms don't only host with porites. When diving I have seen them in everything from straight rock to acropora as well as porites.

[PzReefer]

I also have a piece of superman monti with two christmas tree worms in it. One red worm and one blue. :)

[Myka]

It's not porites, that is actually a variety of Siderastrea sp. which is considered an LPS. They can extend fairly long sweepers at night so give it some room.

I've never even heard of this species...how does it differ from Porites? It looks VERY similar. If this is true (and I doubt it very little), then I bet there are A LOT of misidentified Porites out there!

[untamed]

I also have patches of that on my LR...which makes some sense considering that my rock is Florida aquacultured. I don't know what it is. While still alive at 1 year +, it has not really done well in my system. I've not attempted to target feed it.

[marie]

I believe Siderastea has larger calices (between 2-4mm) and have tentacles not an actual extended polyp like porites.
Porites has a smaller calice (1-1.5mm in diameter) and polyps that are similer to montiporas.
To me the photos don't look anything like a porites but then again I'm not a coral taxonomist....and I didn't stay in a holiday express inn last night :razz:

*edit* siderastrea also appears to be a very common coral in the atlantic, not so much in the pacific which would explain why some of us aren't very familiar with it

[justinl]

Siderastrea is a very common coral in the wild (so a hitcher is very plausible), but for whatever reason, it just isn't sold commercially very often.

Porites is a SPS. from the pic, I would say the corallites on your coral are relatively big... much bigger than porites porites at least, so i would rule that one out. Siderastrea is definitely a plausible guess, but in all fairness it is just an educated guess. A lot of very unrelated corals look alike and identifying them can be tricky. For example, you might never be able to tell a specimen of acan from a favid like a blasto or micromussa without close examination of the skeleton (which you might never see until it's dead). Applies here too (obviously, given the debate goin on).

as for the Xmas tree worm thing, the worms can live on a lot of different corals, but you have to keep in mind that the term "xmas tree worm" is actually a broad term that designates a whole (very misunderstood) complex of species. In the wild, it seems that they are obligated to live on some kind of live coral (or else they get eaten), but in a tank where nothing will bore into their calcium tube, they *probably* could survive anywhere from rock to dead coral. Greg, the ones you see on the rocks probably just technically aren't xmas tree worms... but hell, a lot of the feather duster worms do look a lot alike. past that you can't really generalize and say that they must live on porites and porites alone... because it just isn't true. see link below. it's a good short read and clears this issue up in my mind.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/toonen.htm

[Snappy]

Greg, the ones you see on the rocks probably just technically aren't xmas tree worms...
:biggrin:Actually yes they are, I don't want to sound like a jerk but I think I have enough experience both in this hobby and as a diver to know the difference between a feather duster and a xmas tree worm. :razz: They are very commom in orange, red, blue and grey in the Puerto Vallarta area and host in solid rock. They bore a hole just like they do in the corals. I recommend you go diving at Los Arcos for example and then come back and tell me they aren't xmas tree worms.
But if you go can I come too? We'll have a blast..:wink:

I've never even heard of this species...how does it differ from Porites? It looks VERY similar. If this is true (and I doubt it very little), then I bet there are A LOT of misidentified Porites out there!
It is an LPS and Porites is SPS, the polyps are completely different. As they get bigger the difference if more prodominant.
Here is a picture (magnified) I just took of mine. At night the regular polyps start to retract and if you look closely you'll see sweepers starting to extend in a few places. In a few more hours it will be a mass of tenticles.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h210/Trainer02/may2608pm00211.jpg

[justinl]

hm, well in that case, it is interesting. Rob toonen (the guy who wrote the article i posted) thinks that Spirobranchs can't live in the wild without the protection from a live coral colony because boring animals like urchins and parrotfish would eat away at the worms' tubes as well as the dead skeleton they live in indiscriminately... thus exposing the worm to all sorts of nasties. Wonder if maybe some of the worms just evolved a defense mechanism to combat that sort of situation:question:. something to think about at least.

lol next time Im over in Puerto Vallarta, Ill let you know!

edit: fro the record, the disagreement was a respectful one. Didn't mean to come across as an *** lookin for a fight.

[Oscar]

Porites is a SPS. from the pic, I would say the corallites on your coral are relatively big... much bigger than porites porites at least, so i would rule that one out.



The coralites on the coral in questions are 2-4 mm across. I have not spotted any sweepers yet but I will keep looking.

It is almost 7:00 am, the LED moonlights are on and the tank receives some incidental sunlight in it's location. The coral is fully extended, not retracted as in the 2nd photo I posted.

The mystery continues.

Are we having fun yet?

[Whatigot]

Much as the credentials of those on this board far outweigh my own, I can only say that the coral in question is Identical to the porites sold hosting christmas tree worms at JL Aquatics.
I am also assuming that the coral I have is the same as yours considering we both gor cuban LR around the same time so there are a lot of ways I could be way off base here.

Never seen sweepers, does the other coral mentioned host christmas tree worms?

I'm having fun...:mrgreen: