Coral Identification

[psychicmind]

Hello Reefers.

I need a little help confirming a few of my coral species.

Below is a picture with three different types.

I believe those circled in RED are Acan Lord

I was told those circled in TEAL are Acan Maxima, but I have my doubts.

I have know idea what the one circled in YELLOW is, I thought Blasto.

Also, how is my placement? There is one Open Brain near the "Acan Maxima" and so far I see not issues. There are three types of Candy Cane which I assume get along. I plan to put several Acan Lord color variants along the rock face to create a garden (which is why I need to ID the YELLOW one and move it is it's not Acan Lord), but they are near the Candy Cane. So far I see no problems. None of them seem to have long sweeper tentacles that I can see.

Thanks Reefers

 

[fishski13]

Both the acan lords and maximas look like they are what you say. The other coral, from this pic looks like its almost a favia but i am not sure.

Does it close and than open up and sway with the current like the other acans? Or is it almost a solid flesh.

 

[psychicmind]

Thank you for the reply.

I'm not sure it is happy or adjusted to the tank yet. It seems to stay in shape since acclimating 7 days ago. I have not seen it inflate.

 

[encrustingacro]

First of all, there is no such thing as acanthastrea maxima. Acan maximas have been reclassified to sclerophyllia maxima a long time ago. Second of all, there are no maximas in the hobby because they are all from the Persian gulf where no stony corals have been collected for the hobby. What we call acan maximas or button scolies are actually a species of micromussa called micromussa pacifica. Only the teal circled coral on the right is a pacifica. The one in the middle is an acanthastrea pachysepta, which is commonly mistaken for a lobophyllia, since they look very similar. The coral on the left is a homophyllia australis, which was formerly (and still called by the hobby) scolymia.

 

[psychicmind]

Thank you. That is very helpful. Now I can research these guys and provide better care. It can be difficult to do proper research when everything is misnamed. Appreciated.

 

[psychicmind]

First of all, there is no such thing as acanthastrea maxima. Acan maximas have been reclassified to sclerophyllia maxima a long time ago. Second of all, there are no maximas in the hobby because they are all from the Persian gulf where no stony corals have been collected for the hobby. What we call acan maximas or button scolies are actually a species of micromussa called micromussa pacifica. Only the teal circled coral on the right is a pacifica. The one in the middle is an acanthastrea pachysepta, which is commonly mistaken for a lobophyllia, since they look very similar. The coral on the left is a homophyllia australis, which was formerly (and still called by the hobby) scolymia.

Yep, that second one is acanthastrea pachysepta. I can confirm after seeing it aggressively stinging my open brain this morning. The sweepers seemed to come out from I will need to move it.

How long at it’s sweepers?

 

[encrustingacro]

Yep, that second one is acanthastrea pachysepta. I can confirm after seeing it aggressively stinging my open brain this morning. The sweepers seemed to come out from I will need to move it.

How long at it’s sweepers?

From what I know, acans don’t usually send out sweepers, but spit their guts out and digest nearby corals. I’ve never kept a true acan, so I do not know how long the sweepers/mesenterial filaments can reach.

 

[psychicmind]

From what I know, acans don’t usually send out sweepers, but spit their guts out and digest nearby corals. I’ve never kept a true acan, so I do not know how long the sweepers/mesenterial filaments can reach.

I moved it. I think I caught it before to caused too much damage.

But after researching acanthastrea pachysepta, I read that they are very aggressive. It’s not a stinger but digestive gut as you stated. I saw some scary pics of just how aggressive and destructive they can get.

The weird part was that the gut string did not come out of its mouth. It came out from under the outer lip. I found that quite strange and unexpected.

This hobby is strange. Hard to do adequate research when they are misidentified. This is a small nano, so I’m trying to avoid highly aggressive species. Not easy with LPS.

Your correct ID really helped me. Thanks