Coral name??

sammolson · Feb 12, 2022

Hello coral reefers! Could anyone identify this coral in my tank? I forgot the name. I have blasto, green star and this one I couldn’t remember…much appreciated! Thanks in advance…

Spare time · Feb 13, 2022

I think acan echinata or homophyllia bowerbanki (the two always look similar to me)

MaxTremors · Feb 13, 2022

Looks like either a Goniastrea or Dipsastraea, previously (and still commonly) generically referred to as a Favia. Doesn’t look like an Acanthestrea echinata or Homophyllia bowerbanki (previously Acanthestrea - the reclassifications are getting hard to keep up with) to me, both of those look very different, A. echinata looks more encrusting and almost chalice-like, and H. bowerbanki doesn’t have such well-defined, individually walled corallites.

fishguy242 · Feb 13, 2022

Hi,Nice favia...

Spare time · Feb 13, 2022

I'm glad the op posted this because I swear it's this coral that always messes me up haha

sculpin01 · Feb 13, 2022

Shared walls with no definite septal teeth (so not Acanthastrea). Polyps ~ 1 cm and excavated. Paliform lobes appear to be present. Therefore, Coelastrea palauensis is your most likely candidate. Other option would be Favites chinensis but I think that is unlikely.

As an aside, Russell Kelly's "Coral Finder 2021" is extremely helpful for coral species ID with the exception of Acropora. He's supposed to be looking into starting an Acropora ID guide this year, as it will be required to ID to species all outgoing Australian Acropora in the near future.

sammolson · Feb 15, 2022

Spare time said:
I think acan echinata or homophyllia bowerbanki (the two always look similar to me)

Interesting.

sammolson · Feb 15, 2022

sculpin01 said:
Shared walls with no definite septal teeth (so not Acanthastrea). Polyps ~ 1 cm and excavated. Paliform lobes appear to be present. Therefore, Coelastrea palauensis is your most likely candidate. Other option would be Favites chinensis but I think that is unlikely.

As an aside, Russell Kelly's "Coral Finder 2021" is extremely helpful for coral species ID with the exception of Acropora. He's supposed to be looking into starting an Acropora ID guide this year, as it will be required to ID to species all outgoing Australian Acropora in the near future.

Wow. So many coral terms. Learning something new! Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to check that out!