Coral Identification. Maybe Acro?

[R33fDaddy]

Hi Everyone, first I would like to apologize for the horrible picture lol. When my Zoas close up I seem to see a coral growing underneath them. Maybe an acro or something? I was hoping that someone could identify this from my horrible picture lol. I can try to take a better one when the Zoas are closed but this thing is buried beneath a bunch of them.

 

[Biokabe]

Doesn't quite look right for an acro... doesn't have the smooth, rounded look of an echinata, the layered look of a tenuis, or the ridge look of millepora and similar corals. My first hunch would be some type of seriatopora due to the sharp, angled tips. Possibily a montipora digitata, but those tend to be a bit more blunt on the ends.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Doesn't quite look right for an acro... doesn't have the smooth, rounded look of an echinata, the layered look of a tenuis, or the ridge look of millepora and similar corals. My first hunch would be some type of seriatopora due to the sharp, angled tips. Possibily a montipora digitata, but those tend to be a bit more blunt on the ends.

Some of the Zoas closed up around it so I was able to take a few more. It looks like it has dark red Polyps, wish I could get better pictures. Trying figure out if its worth fragging these Zoas to try to save it. Knowing what it is would help make that decision lol

 

[Biokabe]

It's pretty hard to see since you have to get the pictures so zoomed in to see that coral, and your camera looks like it can't quite handle the close-up pics. But based on the coloration + shape, I'd guess either pink seriatopora, orange montipora setosa, or possible a forest fire/bubble gum montipora digitata.

 

[R33fDaddy]

It could be birds nest coral like the one in Picture but with red Polyps. If so, do you think it's worth fragging away those Zoas to save it?

 

[Alexopora]

It could be birds nest coral like the one in Picture but with red Polyps. If so, do you think it's worth fragging away those Zoas to save it?

You could just frag out the suspected sps and glue it to its own plug or straight into the rock work.

 

[Biokabe]

It could be birds nest coral like the one in Picture but with red Polyps. If so, do you think it's worth fragging away those Zoas to save it?

Ultimately you're the only one who can answer that question. I will say that zoas are some of the hardiest and fastest-growing corals out there; if you did cut some back to save that other coral, it wouldn't take long before they grew back.

 

[Uncle99]

Could be anything.

 

[Suohhen]

There are many varieties of acro but very few of them are circulated around the hobby. If this is a hitchhiker that came in from the wild there are so many things it could be. The 'brown polyps' could very well be algae that feasted on the dead tissue of the coral so I would recommend you pluck it out of their. If you can use some bone cutters or a knife that would be best but it is quite possible you can just pop it off with your hands.

 

[R33fDaddy]

There are many varieties of acro but very few of them are circulated around the hobby. If this is a hitchhiker that came in from the wild there are so many things it could be. The 'brown polyps' could very well be algae that feasted on the dead tissue of the coral so I would recommend you pluck it out of their. If you can use some bone cutters or a knife that would be best but it is quite possible you can just pop it off with your hands.

The Polyps are red, sorry I'm a terrible photographer lol. It's definitely not dead, the first picture I took this morning it was closed. The second group of pictures I posted you can see all the red Polyps came out.

 

[R33fDaddy]

You could just frag out the suspected sps and glue it to its own plug or straight into the rock work.

I think that's what I'm going to do, but I'm such a rookie at fragging lol. This rock has a bunch of different corals on it which I've identified most of them. If this is an acro then I definitely want to save it. It's just surrounded by a bunch of Halle Berry Zoas and I've never fragged them before.

 

[shred5]

Cant make anything out but usually a acro wont grow inside zoas. Zoas can be aggressive.
My guess is either a sponge or a tunicate.

 

[dedragon]

just break off the maybe sps coral as close to the base as possible, it should snap off easily, than just super glue it to a frag plug, Would love to see a red birdsnest, fingers crossed and good luck

 

[Suohhen]

The Polyps are red, sorry I'm a terrible photographer lol. It's definitely not dead, the first picture I took this morning it was closed. The second group of pictures I posted you can see all the red Polyps came out.

Red is the color of cyano which is the most common thing to show up first on dead flesh. It can definitely mimic the look of polyp extension as well as it can almost disappear when the lights are off and then surge to life. But yeah I cannot in any way say definitely that it is an acro, or even an sps, dead or alive, the pictures are at best an abstract representation which I am by no means trying to be critical, a normal camera lens has these limitations when you see clear close up photos it is always being taken with a macro lens.

 

[R33fDaddy]

Red is the color of cyano which is the most common thing to show up first on dead flesh. It can definitely mimic the look of polyp extension as well as it can almost disappear when the lights are off and then surge to life. But yeah I cannot in any way say definitely that it is an acro, or even an sps, dead or alive, the pictures are at best an abstract representation which I am by no means trying to be critical, a normal camera lens has these limitations when you see clear close up photos it is always being taken with a macro lens.

I'll try to get better photos lol. It's definitely a living Coral not algea or anything dead. The Polyps look like tiny flowers and are red.

 

[dedragon]

take a pic after you frag it so it will be clearer, I would probably give it a few days to recover as well before taking the photo

 

[R33fDaddy]

Got a little better pics. You can see the red Polyps.

This is what it looks like when the Zoas are out. Totally covered.

 

[Alexopora]

Got a little better pics. You can see the red Polyps.

This is what it looks like when the Zoas are out. Totally covered.

Ohh, yes that definitely looks like some sort of sps. Try to frag it out as it most likely will get shaded and overwhelmed by the zoas. Just from the pictures alone, I’d probably go with monti. Perhaps a digitata. The polyps in the pictures looks more like monti polyps than birdsnest.

 

[Tcook]

Maybe cyphastrea?

 

[OrionN]

It is a “Deas SPS”
What it was isn’t too important since it is gone under that mass of polyps.