Flexible coral? Coral mimicry?

[dankaqua]

Looks like a colony of plate coral...

...until it bends like a soft coral...

Anyone ever seen one of these before?

 

[fishguy242]

hi check alk cal mag flow is cracking btw beautiful monti ,if it breaks now you have another colony,just saying levels is growing fast but not thick enough ,happy reefing

 

[Skibum]

I've seen where hellsfire anemones mimic acropora species, but not montis. Interesting behavior, where was this dive?

 

[dankaqua]

I've seen where hellsfire anemones mimic acropora species, but not montis. Interesting behavior, where was this dive?

Malaysian Borneo (west side near Kota Kinabalu)

 

[Rybren]

Could be a sponge. I have a purple photosynthetic sponge that has the same growth pattern and it moves in the current just like the video.

 

[dankaqua]

Could be a sponge. I have a purple photosynthetic sponge that has the same growth pattern and it moves in the current just like the video.

I was thinking it could be a sponge. Do you have a pic or video of yours? What size is it? This one was about a foot across.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Googled "plating sponge" and came up with multiple examples; although yours looks more monti-like than most. Thanks for sharing - pretty neat. Would have fooled me.

 

[Rybren]

I've fragged mine multiple times, it's a fast grower.

 

[Skibum]

Malaysian Borneo (west side near Kota Kinabalu)

Ah! My wife is from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). I've always wanted to visit.

 

[dankaqua]

Googled "plating sponge" and came up with multiple examples; although yours looks more monti-like than most. Thanks for sharing - pretty neat. Would have fooled me.

I copied your "plating sponge" query and that led to "Collospongia" which looks like a pretty good match... although the organism that I filmed seems to have more of a "coral" type of growth pattern.

I will say that I kinda freaked out when what I thought was just a normal plate coral "bent in half" with the current!

Some pages with info on Collospongia:

Collospongia auris Cambie & Kernan, 1990 Blue Ear Sponge

Blue Photo Sponge, Collospongia auris, seems to be growing well in reef tanks

 

[dankaqua]

Ah! My wife is from Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). I've always wanted to visit.

Skibum, just wanted to say that I'm actually kind of sad with what's going on in that part of Malaysia (like many other places in the tropics which are so lucky to have amazing coral reefs)...

Everyone talks about global warming (which is no doubt an issue) and destructive fishing practices (no doubt another issue)... but I don't hear much about "fertilizer from farming" in combination with road building and general construction/ground breaking.

The later is very clear in Kota Kinabalu (as it is in too many places). The river is discharging huge volumes of muddy water into the ocean and the nearby reefs are all pretty much wiped out. You have to go far off the mainland to a small island (beyond the muddy waters) too see anything.

...from the air, it's such a sad scene...

Which makes finding a tiny islet with vibrant fringing coral reefs all the more amazing and enjoyable.

Hope you make it out there and hope you can find a little slice of heaven ...