Hello WWM, I need help identifying a specimen! -- 12/28/10
Hello Crew @ WWM! Here's the story. I have a 10g small reef setup (stable and actually growing corals under T8, blasphemy I know). As a means of algae control in my tank I have assorted hermits, snails, and one emerald crab.
<Mmm, predaceous>
The emerald crab has a penchant for rearranging my rock structures (they're all small rocks due to limited tank size). Upon a recent crab-induced renovation I spun a rock around and later the next night found to my surprise two "polyps". I use quotations because I cannot actually ID these (thus writing you). My difficulties to ID them stem from the fact that their bodies are almost completely clear, and by eye I can only make out the mouth and little white tips of the tentacles. Cameras seem to fare much worse, and with a flash it becomes too bright to see anything other than the mouth, and without it is too dark to make out the white tips on the tentacles, no happy medium with my phone camera unfortunately. The body of the specimens are both growing inside of a small holes in the rock itself, and they seem to be about 1/4" wide. They are growing on the side of the rock, out of direct lighting and in a high current area. Their tentacles appear to stay very close to the rock, radiate perhaps another 1/4" outward, and in my observations I didn't notice any waving movement. There does appear to be some sort of skeletal feature inside the hole, but I can't be sure as it is so small. Under actinic light there is a small ring of fluorescing specks around the outside edge of the oral disc.
http://picasaweb.google.com/xxfallacyxx/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnuh7SQmf3S8g
E#5555535619293921986
Using the tools on Picasa web you should be able to zoom in and get a look at the specimen.
<Too little data to expand>
When looking at the picture notice the "spur" of rock at the top. If you follow the left side of the "spur" directly down you will notice a sudden bright spot (sort of a fleshy color). This is where the specimen is, and the small white dots surrounding it are the tips of it's tentacles. Any help you can offer in IDing this specimen is greatly appreciated! Hope your holidays were great, and wish you a good new year.
<Can't make out what you're referring to, but from your desc. these are likely Stony/Scleractinian polyps of some sort, perhaps singular species. Take the long read staring here: http://wetwebmedia.com/stonycoridfaq.htm
and the linked files above, where you lead yourself. Bob Fenner>