Hitchhiker Coral?

Phildago · Mar 29, 2020

This looks like some Caribbean stony coral right thurr.

Porites astreoides

AKa mustard hill coral

VR28man · Mar 30, 2020

Phildago said:
This looks like some Caribbean stony coral right thurr.

Porites astreoides

AKa mustard hill coral

I would really like that to be the case but.......

I'm not sure the polyps are correct.

I don't know asteroides, but I think from what i've seen on the interwebz that asteroidies polyps are much like the Pacific lobata/lutea, and my polyps look nothing similar. (i don't have a macro lens unfortunately).

Maybe in the next few days I'll look for time to photograph the coralites.

NeSsyAqua · Mar 30, 2020

pavona?

Phildago · Mar 30, 2020

VR28man said:
I would really like that to be the case but.......

I'm not sure the polyps are correct. I don't know asteroides, but I think from what i've seen on the interwebz that asteroidies polyps are much like the Pacific lobata/lutea, and my polyps look nothing similar. (i don't have a macro lens unfortunately).

Maybe in the next few days I'll look for time to photograph the coralites.

Well all I can say is that I was able to snag some cultured coral in Grenada that is porites astreoides and it looks absolutely identical to what you have growing there.

I know it is what it is because I was there and I saw it growing on the rocks in the ocean.

The color seems a bit off, but that's just because of the difference we see in our tanks VS picture taken of wild specimen.

I'll take a close up Pic of mine tomorrow, but I can garunteed you they are morphologically identical

Phildago · Mar 30, 2020

Oh and here's a good back up test. This type of coral doesn't have any fluorescent proteins, so if you shine uv/blues you won't get that pop or glow that you typically get with other corals.

Phildago · Mar 30, 2020

VR28man · Mar 30, 2020

yeah that’s definitely one or another Porites. (if you say Asteroides, I believe you).

my polyps don’t look like that; if I have time once they get a lot of other things out of my way, I’ll try to get a macroish shot....

Phildago · Mar 30, 2020

VR28man said:
yeah that’s definitely one or another Porites. (if you say Asteroides, I believe you).

my polyps don’t look like that; if I have time once they get a lot of other things out of my way, I’ll try to get a macroish shot....

Okay sounds good. I'll take another when it fully opens up today. The lights just came on so it's half closed up

JoshF7 · Mar 30, 2020

Here is a photo from just now in my tank. Not sure it is the same as others have shared, but maybe it will help as these are slightly better than the others I have shared (blue lights are on, but the fact they change with the blue/UV makes me wonder).

Phildago · Mar 30, 2020

JoshF7 said:
Here is a photo from just now in my tank. Not sure it is the same as others have shared, but maybe it will help as these are slightly better than the others I have shared (blue lights are on, but the fact they change with the blue/UV makes me wonder).

The effect can only be seen in dim blue/uv lighting. I know that mine is very nice under blues too and the green really stands out, but it's specifically the glow that is missing when the tank is very dark and you can see the fluorescence.

I do not see the difference in the polyps although yours is definitely more open than mine. Mine hasn't changed today, ive been sorting out some flow issues as well so I can't get a good comparable Pic.

C. Eymann · Mar 31, 2020

after seeing more pics, starting to doubt porites, I think dendrogyra might be a possibility, can you post a pic with the polyps retracted?

Butcher333 · Mar 15, 2021

I was trying to ID as well. KP Aquatics Live Rock. I figured just a small encrusting SPS but who knows. Definitely not invasive.

Alexopora · Apr 6, 2021

Butcher333 said:
I was trying to ID as well. KP Aquatics Live Rock. I figured just a small encrusting SPS but who knows. Definitely not invasive.

For me, the easiest way to identify is to get a turkey baster and force the coral to retract. A picture of its skeleton would be helpful. And we can immediately know if its a stony or soft coral.