Help with identification (little white branched corals)

[marcovolpato]

Greetings,

I know this forum is not specifically related to my question, but I would like to give it a try. I am a researcher working at GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany. I am mapping the seabed of Madeira (northeastern Atlantic) to identify habitats, and I have found several small white branched corals that form aggregations. We are unable to determine if they are a distinct species or small individuals of other species, considering their maximum length is about 10 cm. If anyone has information that could help with their identification, I would greatly appreciate it. I am not even sure that they are Cnidarians, so it would be helpful to understand if my guesses regarding their phylum are correct. I would also be grateful for the names of other sites or contacts if you know any experts. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[shakacuz]

@ISpeakForTheSeas @encrustingacro may be able to help!

 

[encrustingacro]

We likely would not be able to help given the locality and such blurry photos. Most corals us hobbyists are familiar with are from the tropical West-Pacific. If you want someone who would might have an idea, you should ask Joe Rowlett, either on Twitter or iNaturalist.

 

[awHudson]

Greetings,

I know this forum is not specifically related to my question, but I would like to give it a try. I am a researcher working at GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany. I am mapping the seabed of Madeira (northeastern Atlantic) to identify habitats, and I have found several small white branched corals that form aggregations. We are unable to determine if they are a distinct species or small individuals of other species, considering their maximum length is about 10 cm. If anyone has information that could help with their identification, I would greatly appreciate it. I am not even sure that they are Cnidarians, so it would be helpful to understand if my guesses regarding their phylum are correct. I would also be grateful for the names of other sites or contacts if you know any experts. Thank you very much for your help!

I could be vastly wrong but it looks like slime mold to me. My coworker has this growing in his planted tank, but I'm unsure if it can grow in saltwater. In freshwater, it feeds off biofilm and grows and moves on its own. Other than that I have zero clue what that could be. Id recommend looking into slime mold and see if it can grow in saltwater.

 

[djf91]

Maybe Foraminiferans https://images.app.goo.gl/p9FMyYKUtJYPTUMG8

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Greetings,

I know this forum is not specifically related to my question, but I would like to give it a try. I am a researcher working at GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany. I am mapping the seabed of Madeira (northeastern Atlantic) to identify habitats, and I have found several small white branched corals that form aggregations. We are unable to determine if they are a distinct species or small individuals of other species, considering their maximum length is about 10 cm. If anyone has information that could help with their identification, I would greatly appreciate it. I am not even sure that they are Cnidarians, so it would be helpful to understand if my guesses regarding their phylum are correct. I would also be grateful for the names of other sites or contacts if you know any experts. Thank you very much for your help!

Welcome to Reef2Reef and neat project!

Unfortunately, while I am relatively (not extremely) well-versed in coldwater critters at this point, as mentioned, you'll really need clearer pics for a proper ID here. Corals and other critters that could potentially look like this typically require very clear pics (and sometimes microscope/magnified pics too) to ID.

Some critters that could potentially look like this include some Scleractinian corals (when bleached), some Octocorals (bleached or non-photosynthetic), some Hydrocorals (these first three are the most likely), possibly some Foraminiferans, possibly some Coralline Algae species, and (if soft rather than hard/solid) even some Holothuroideans.