Hitchhiker Coral?

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

I have some new live rock from KP Aquatics, and this came in on one of them. I expected it would die off in my curing and QT process, but it survived and seems to be thriving now. It seems to have polyps of some kind that I didn't notice when in QT, as they wave around in the flow in the tank. Hasn't really colored up much (maybe just slightly green, but otherwise essentially still brown) since added. Maybe some kind of short goniopora?

NatD · Feb 25, 2020

Hello — looks like clove polyps to me

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

NatD said:
Hello — looks like clove polyps to me

I have clove polyps and GSP in a different system and I'm pretty sure these are not that because the base seems almost hard. The polyps come out of small holes in it and not from a soft mat like those do. I'll try and get a picture of when the polyps are retracted.

will25u · Feb 25, 2020

I’m thinking they look like sympodium.

NatD · Feb 25, 2020

Ooh neat — Galaxea?

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

will25u said:
I’m thinking they look like sympodium.

I'm not very familiar with those, but everything I Google looks like clove polyps where the fingers of the polyps are not just single lines but have a kind of bristle look. This is a zoomed in picture, but still hard to tell in the picture that each polyp just has a fingers/petals that are single lines radiating out.

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

NatD said:
Ooh neat — Galaxea?

I'll need to Google some more and compare. I think a picture of when it closes up might help, so maybe after lights out.

C. Eymann · Feb 25, 2020

Porites possibly?, lucky if it is, Atlantic sps, legally!

shadesatsetbreak · Feb 25, 2020

JoshF7 said:
I have some new live rock from KP Aquatics, and this came in on one of them. I expected it would die off in my curing and QT process, but it survived and seems to be thriving now. It seems to have polyps of some kind that I didn't notice when in QT, as they wave around in the flow in the tank. Hasn't really colored up much (maybe just slightly green, but otherwise essentially still brown) since added. Maybe some kind of short goniopora?

Siderastrea Radians maybe? Never seen the polyps that extended though.

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

shadesatsetbreak said:
Siderastrea Radians maybe? Never seen the polyps that extended though.

Hmmm, it's structure does look slightly like that, but it definitely has much further polyp extension like you said.

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

C. Eymann said:
Porites possibly?, lucky if it is, Atlantic sps, legally!

Maybe! It has a lot of characteristics like that. What should I look for to confirm?

shadesatsetbreak · Feb 25, 2020

JoshF7 said:
Hmmm, it's structure does look slightly like that, but it definitely has much further polyp extension like you said.

On second look it is likely a Porites or Montastrea. Any pics under white light/daylight?

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

shadesatsetbreak said:
On second look it is likely a Porites or Montastrea. Any pics under white light/daylight?

Lights are going out soon, so I'll try to get it with polyps in and maybe tomorrow under white light.

fishguy242 · Feb 25, 2020

i vote galaxy

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

shadesatsetbreak said:
... under white light/daylight?

Well, display lights are off now and so I used a flashlight for a quick photo, but it is a bit blurry and not sure entirely helpful.

sp1187 · Feb 25, 2020

encrusting gorgonia

JoshF7 · Feb 25, 2020

sp1187 said:
encrusting gorgonia

I didn't even know such a thing existed. Google results aren't quite matching, but I'll need to read more about those and see if I can find some determining factors.

JoshF7 · Feb 26, 2020

sp1187 said:
encrusting gorgonia

I tried to get pictures of it with polyps closed, but it never did last night from what I could see. Based on that, and general look and basic research, I'm going with it is probably an encrusting gorgonian of some kind. I'll keep an eye on it, and watch the growth patterns to see if it can confirm. Thanks to everyone for your input, and a big thanks to KP Aquatics for some amazing live rock with great biodiversity!

shadesatsetbreak · Feb 26, 2020

NatD said:
Ooh neat — Galaxea?

fishguy242 said:
i vote galaxy

None in Caribbean.

JoshF7 said:
I tried to get pictures of it with polyps closed, but it never did last night from what I could see. Based on that, and general look and basic research, I'm going with it is probably an encrusting gorgonian of some kind. I'll keep an eye on it, and watch the growth patterns to see if it can confirm. Thanks to everyone for your input, and a big thanks to KP Aquatics for some amazing live rock with great biodiversity!

Looks very close to encrusting Gorgonian. Final Vote is for either encrusting Gorgonian or Briareum

VR28man · Mar 29, 2020

I think i have the same hitchiker from KP aquatics. I've always guessed it some kind of encrusting SPS, but I haven't been convinced which one yet. I don't think it's a gorgonian of any sort.

http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/coral_geographic/interactive_map/results/result_lists?resultType=taxa