dormant life in dead rock

[DrayB]

Hi all.
Got a bit of a weird one here...my question is....are there any coral types that will lay dormant for long periods of time in some form of stasis that then come back when the right environment returns?

i ask this because i have a piece of pukani/dead rock that has the smallest of polyp heads growing on it.
you will see from the rock that previously (and i don't know how long ago) there was some sort of coral that left small calcium tubes...and one of these now has life coming out of it.
i have posted two pics.
1...uncropped showing the tubes and one of them with life.
2...cropped of the new life and this thing is ever so small probably about 3-4mm across, from polyp end to end.

now this looks like some kind of open candy cane to me......whats your thoughts??

 

[Shep]

I would say yes to an extent, if the rock was kept "alive" then something could stay dormant but if the rock was 100% dried out or baked, then there is no way.

 

[DrayB]

it was dead...dead dry....no life whats ever

 

[abecker]

How long has the rock been in the tank? Also, is there anything else in the tank? I wouldn't think that it came in on the piece of dead rock, but maybe came in on something else that was added to the tank and ended up on that rock.

 

[DrayB]

rock has been in since march, not much in the tank as I've been having algae problems, just two duncans couple of candy cane a small hammer and some sps frags.
whats puzzling me is that it is growing out of one of the tubes that is on that rock (7 of them shown in 1st pic running from top to bottom down the centre) that look to be the skeletal remains of a small sps?

 

[DrayB]

any more thoughts on this ?

 

[emajority]

any more thoughts on this ?

That looks a lot like a Mojano, maybe a gracilis.

Either way I had a few very similar that stung the crap out of a pink birdsnest.

I would kill it quickly with a shot of some kalk paste. Even if not a Mojano, most anemone can still sting corals badly.