Dumb question but with PHOTO :D

[coralcruze]

Below is a picture of one of my corals. Its a Cornbred crown of thorns birdsnest. so I'm pondering its amazing growth. leading to my dumb question... These animals we are told are void of brain and nervous system. >>> how does one colony of polyps communicate to another so it doed not grow into each other? Chemical signal? do we even know? Told you it was a dumb question but seriously I happen to have a packed SPS and community tank with LPS and softies and when one acro stick even gets too close to another of a different genus, chem. war begins, one will win and kill the other. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/frag-sale-w-tank-shots.268335/#post-3212023

However, shown below is a beautiful dance choreography of colonies of sticks somehow knowing which direction to grow to create the amazing tapestry web that we know and love of birdsnest corals.

Please help me understand... Looking forward to this discussion

 

[Macdaddynick1]

i don't think they do, my corals constantly grow into themselves, also perhaps the formation of the corallites forces them to grow in a certain direction

 

[coralcruze]

Interesting, I never thought about corallites formation forcing growth direction. although i agree that these corals do grow into each other and I have even taken an unintentional frag and dropped it into the web and watched it fuse back together and continue to grow. However, What i am referring to is the majority of the time and you can see this in the photo above where the stick will split into two directions because the original direction would grow into another branch... even if you look at the outside perimeter growth here the sticks seem to reach and spread outward almost knowing there is empty ocean beyond as compared to sticks already split but inside the web of the coral.

perhaps I stare at corals too much... lol

 

[coralcruze]

I do realize though that its hard to see what I am saying in this 2 dimensional picture... The sticks on top of the coral also seem to be longer (before they split) like the ones on the perimeter as we see it in the shot above.

 

[coralcruze]

I think it may be best if I take monthly pics at the same angle and see the growth progression. has anyone done this type of study, I wonder?

 

[Bozoman]

Pocilloporidae, like the Seriatopora in your pic are known for doing just that, branches growing into one another and fusing.

 

[tomtom2245]

My birdsnest constantly grows into itself and the branches fuse together. I even have a purple one that was near my bird of paradise and they have now grown and basically fused into one colony.