Stony Coral ID F 13

FAQs about Stony Coral, Cnidarian Identification 13

Related Articles: Stony Corals,

Possibly help with NPS coral ID, Rhizangiidae 6/19/11
Hi all,
<Deb>
A few months ago I purchased a small rock with some Tubastrea on it. It looked as though half had the skeletons of young/baby Tubastrea that had died...until a week or so ago. I normally feed the sun corals using a flashlight because the black sun corals close up when I turn the tank light on. But I needed the light and that's when I noticed these tiny tentacles.
I thought they were orange ball anemones that had 'taken up' residence in the skeletons but I think that assumption is wrong. They sort of remind me of pictures I've seen of Culicia coral. Thanks for whatever help you can give me on their ID if it's possible.
<I do think this may be Culicia hoffmeisteri. Bob Fenner>
Debbie
CORALS OPEN
I HIT THE ROCK TRYING TO CLEAN THE ACRYLIC AND THEY DISAPPEARED
TINY NEXT TO TUBASTREA

ID help -- 12/08/10
Season's Greetings, Crew.
<Dan>
Would you mind taking a look at these two little beasts?
<Not a'tall>
The anemone in the 2d photo was listed as a BTA, but I have suspicions that my LFS is a little loose with their IDs. I have looked in your ID section, but they all start to look alike after a few hours. What do you think? I have never seen the tips bubble up, even though it has grown steadily in the 3 months I have had it. I feed it krill (~ 1.5") soaked in Selcon, and the Maroons never leave it. Just wish I knew for certain what it was.
<Mmm, most likely is Entacmaea... doesn't have to be "so bubbly", and can/will likely change w/ time... And the fact that your Premnas as so enamored of it...>
The coral looks to me to be a Montipora variety, but it has larger polyps on it, and appears to have most of them on/near its edges. I have a beautiful purple/green M. capricornis on the other end of the tank, but it obviously does not have this polyp configuration. Can you point me in the right direction please?
<This is a Dendrophylliid... a Turbinaria species, likely T. reniformis>
By the way, thanks for the recent assist with an H. rigida ID. I purchased it, and it is now looking great, eating, and (to the best of my knowledge) thriving on top of my reef stack under the 10K HQI.
All the best,
Dan
<And to you, Bob Fenner>

ID 11/10/10
Hi Crew,
Is this a Merulina or Platygyra?
It was listed as Merulina but I hope it is not.
Thanks,
Sam
<Not the former, possibly a Platygyra sp. Bob Fenner>

Help in coral identification - 10/22/10
Hi there,
<Howdy>
Recently got a coral from the LFS who said it was a Fox coral,
<Nemanzophyllia, N. turbida...>
but deflated
because of shipping.
<Mmm, does happen>
Read that these are the grumpiest of corals
<?>
and even if you fart in the same room they will deflate for days. Had read that they are good beginner corals and also not aggressive at all. Have placed it by the side of a clam and it still is deflated. Wanted to know whether it is actually a fox coral
<Appears to be, but bleached...>
or some type of open brain coral. There are small pin point mouths on the valleys and the skeleton on the sides is fine and needlelike. No visible tentacles are observed. Just help me out on the identification.
Cheers,
Vijay.
<And you, Bob Fenner>

Coral ID help 9/6/2010
Hi there, thanks in advance for the assist, you guys and gals are awesome.
<Howdy Kev>
I have this coral frag and I was told it's a Hydnophora. However, after some research on Hydnophora and family Merulinidae, I'm not sure. The best I could come up with is a massive *Hydnophora exesa*. Do you guys agree or
is this something else entirely?*
<I do think this is a good guess>
*
Also, is there a good visual guide to coral identification on the internet somewhere?
<Mmm, yes... my fave: Asira... Mmm, seems the Sara's site is having troubles currently... Or Jake Adam's http://coralidea.com/
Bob Fenner>
Thanks
Kevin*

Scler ID... Fav and Dend - 8/17/10
Dear Bob n crew,
<Hello Blesson>
Greetings!
<Salutations!>
First of all thank you for this awesome site! Has helped me and my friends in our fishkeeping immensely and changed a whole lot of our methodology in the hobby. Well I'll try to keep this mail short to lessen your burden.
<Yay!>
I received 2 corals from a friend and so far I think one is a Favite of some sort,
<This is a Favia -- notice the individual corallites that do not have shared walls? I.D. to species level is impossible here, you would need a bleached skeleton & a copy of Veron's works w/ a microscope to be sure>
and the other a Turbinaria.
<Yes>
I was thinking it could be a T. frondens or a T. patula or even a T. peltata.
<I think this is T. peltata.>
Just not sure though. I have obviously done my fair share of reading and preparation for these two corals (since the last two months!).
<Great! These are both excellent choices, hardy and beautiful>
It would be of immense help if you kind folks could help me identify these specimens, and also let me know if you spot any bleaching or any such problems from the pictures.
<These look ok to me, a little light in colour but that could be the pictures. With good care they should be fine>
Hope the pics are not too big.
<they are ok>
The Favite doesn't seem to be acclimatised as of yet as I've not seen its feeding tentacles or the sweeper tentacles.
<I've had one for three years + and not seen them either, but it's grown, albeit slowly>
And the Turbinaria extends its polyps but not as much as I've witnessed in some of the Turbinaria pictures.
<This looks fine to me>
And just letting you guys know that I've been reading the dailies regularly for almost six months now and just love all the info!
<Great!>
Any ways, thanks again in advance for your help. My regards to Bob, Salty, Neale, Lynn, Chris and the rest of the gang.
Cheers, Blesson.
<Thanks, Simon>

Re: Favia and Dendrophyllid 8/25/10
Good day ! Bob and crew,
<Hello Blesson! Sorry this has taken me a while to get back to you, I thought I had checked my in-box and it turned out I had not>
Hope this mail finds everyone in the best of health and spirits :)
<Yes thank you! My nurse says that my lungs are at 132% capacity!>
Well my main reason for writing in today is to confirm the id given for one of my corals. Simon identified this specimen I am talking about as a Favia sp. No offense Simon but I was surfing through a reputed e-tailer's website and they had a picture that resembles the coral I have almost in every way except for the colours. It was named reverse prism Goniastrea closed brain coral.
<Mmmm, no. A Goniastrea would have shared walls between the corallites, and I believe that each corallite on your coral has it's own walls. This is THE defining characteristic. Check Borneman or Veron's books for more reliable I.D methods than e-tailers, who often do not know which animals they are selling. This article describes how to I.D these http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/1097/1097_1.html 'the corallites are separated from each other and are distinct oval, round, or amoeba-shaped structures which may be touching but never fusing'. Another possibility could be a Favites, although distinguishing these and Favia apart is sometimes difficult as they can be very similar indeed>
And none of the pictures on WetWeb look like what I have, under the category Favia. Hence the doubt :(. Don't mean to challenge Simon's knowledge or anything like that, just making sure what I have is a Favia indeed. Plus I find the info on Goniastrea care on WetWeb is pretty scanty.
<Is still a Faviid, and it's care is pretty much the same as the others, so no worries there.>
Could you please be kind enough to re-direct me to those pages.
<Try here. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faviidsysfaqs.htm >
Thanks,
Blesson.
<No worries, Simon>

Unusual Coral Frag Growth 6/18/10
Hi Bob,
<James>
I've fragged a few pieces from a coral I've grown from a large (8+ inch spread), what I believe to be a variation of a Bird's Nest Coral which was given to me as a frag.
<? this... in the pic?>
Every frag I've "replanted" from this coral grew proportionately (base size to finger size). I felt that the growth of this particular frag was unusual. There are a few bumps that obviously are going to be future fingers, but I found it odd that after six months, just the base continues to spread with no finger growth. Just wondered what your thoughts are on this. See attached pic.
Cheers,
James
<Judging from the size, uniformity of the corallites, I'd say this was likely a Porites species. B>

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