Can anyone help narrow down what this coral is?

[InvertsBestVerts]

It came as a hitchhiker on my live rock. Somehow it lived out of water for the 2+ hours it took to get home, so I'd like to treat the tough little guy right.

 

[Dragon52]

If that's a clove or star you might not want it, they can take over a tank. I've had to cut mine back 3 times in a yr. Can't get rid of it because the wife loves it.
Edit: Xenia was what I was thinking but couldn't remember the name. lol

 

[Scotty Buttons]

That looks like a pulsing xenia

 

[Joe1400]

How many 'tentacles' does it have per polyp?

 

[InvertsBestVerts]

If that's a clove or star you might not want it, they can take over a tank. I've had to cut mine back 3 times in a yr. Can't get rid of it because the wife loves it.

3 times a year doesn't sound that bad, is there much involved with cutting soft corals? I'm used to near weekly trimming with my planted aquariums, I figured there wouldn't be much more involved in trimming a fast growing coral (and bought some Green Star Polyps under that assumption).

 

[InvertsBestVerts]

How many 'tentacles' does it have per polyp?

It has 8 per polyp with a feathered appearance on the more mature ones

 

[ScottR]

Looks more like anthelia to me.

 

[Joe1400]

It has 8 per polyp with a feathered appearance on the more mature ones

Great, then you can be very sure that it's an octocoral , I think the next thing to check is if the polyps emerge from a flat .. mat, rather than tubes hidden in the rock, ruling out pipe organ , beyond that, I don't know how to distinguish with certainty which you have , but the proportions look like the basic Xenia which I have , pinkish brown ,not pulsing, no main stalk etc.
If your tank isn't difficult to access , it's not a hard critter to handle Imo n I'd consider it fortuitous and observe it to evaluate your tank conditions.

 

[InvertsBestVerts]

Great, then you can be very sure that it's an octocoral , I think the next thing to check is if the polyps emerge from a flat .. mat, rather than tubes hidden in the rock, ruling out pipe organ , beyond that, I don't know how to distinguish with certainty which you have , but the proportions look like the basic Xenia which I have , pinkish brown ,not pulsing, no main stalk etc.
If your tank isn't difficult to access , it's not a hard critter to handle Imo n I'd consider it fortuitous and observe it to evaluate your tank conditions.

I can't see down into the rock all that well but I can see that all the stalks are growing out from one large base "tube".

And so far they seem to be doing great! The stalks that already had "tentacles" during the transport look pretty ragged and non uniform, but the new stalks are growing steadily and look a lot better

 

[Joe1400]

I can't see down into the rock all that well but I can see that all the stalks are growing out from one large base "tube".

And so far they seem to be doing great! The stalks that already had "tentacles" during the transport look pretty ragged and non uniform, but the new stalks are growing steadily and look a lot better

It should be interesting to see how it develops.