Coral Id

[Zac K]

Hi,

Got this coral in a frag swap. The seller had it in low flow, which made it look a bit like a Monti. The polyp centres are a cool neon blue...

The seller thought it was some kind of sps I think, but in my tank -- in a higher flow area --- the polyps really come out and so do long sweepers. It's some kind of encrusting lps.

LFS suggested goniopora, but everything about it seems too small. The polyps are tiny... even on the mother colony. Still, it does retract into something that resembles a rock if disturbed. Looks kind of like a goni, but not sure.

Any ideas?

 

[taxiem]

Could be a goni or an alveopora? Can't really see the individual heads on the pic xx

 

[reef lover]

Are those sweeper tentacles I see?? If so i would lean toward galaxea

 

[Zac K]

Yep, those are sweepers but I'm not sure this is a galexia?

 

[Zac K]

galexias look quite bushy. It kind of looks like one... not sure.

Alveoporas looks like they have longer polyps.

 

[Zac K]

Here is another picture. I'm not sure that this is a galexea... it's just so minature.

Even the mother colony is pretty small despite being several years old. (Maybe be the size and shape of a large pebble)

Have included a picture of the rest of the tank for scale.

Cheers.

 

[reef lover]

#reefsquad what do you guys think??

 

[DSC reef]

I'm going with galaxea, it's got serious sweepers. A shot of the skeleton might help.

 

[KJ]

Galaxea.

 

[ReefQueen]

Stylocoeniela would be my guess.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Stylocoeniela would be my guess.

I second that ...

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

I would say galaxea

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I have a stylocoeniella and it has never put off streamers like that.

I'm in the galaxea camp, however, it doesn't look like a normal galaxea since there is no good separation among the polyps.

 

[DSC reef]

I have a stylocoeniella and it has never put off streamers like that.

I'm in the galaxea camp, however, it doesn't look like a normal galaxea since there is no good separation among the polyps.

I'm with you, the sweepers are what swayed me. Tough call though.

 

[JaimeAdams]

My first thought was stylo as @ReefQueen mentioned. I totally get the comments about it being galaxia. My problem with it being galaxia is that the polyps are super small and the tentacles are super thin. It's just way too small for me to believe that it is galaxia.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

Would it be possible to target feed it and take a photo of it closed up? Looking at the skeleton would give you a better chance of ID...

 

[Tahoe61]

Stylocoeniela would be my guess.

That would be my guess as well. You do not see a lot of this coral in tanks and sometimes the feeding response or sweeper tentacles can be greatly exaggerated.

 

[Zac K]

Wow, thanks guys. Looks like you did it. Here's one that is identical in colouration to mine:

http://reefinabox.com/stylocoeniella-coral-unique-sps-aquarium/

Stylocoeniela it is.

So, this piece should be in the rock work somewhere? Seems odd that it's classified as an SPS... the sweepers really are quite large.

Any care tips?

Many thanks!