Is this devil's hand coral dead?

Juju2773 · Jul 26, 2023

I bought it from a petco over 3 weeks ago. I thought it was just in its leathered over state about to shed soon. I liked the light color and thought it would be exciting to be surprised when it opens, ... but it has never opened. Not one polyp peeking. No changes, ..

Nothing.
I lifted it to just below water level and kind of lightly pushed on it a little.

It is not mushy, it is firm with a little flex, and after i did this i saw a little puff of like underwater smoke come out of the side. Im thinking it is the toxins they put out when they are bothered. But could it just be because it is dead? I have a few nearby corals that have been kindof squenched up for over a week. So i am concerned it may be dead.
( they could also be like that because i had a goby die under a rock that i cannot get to and my nitrates & phosphates are up a bit right now )

Northern Flicker · Jul 26, 2023

No, not dead.

Softies can be like this - my toadstool went an entire month without opening up or extending. I helped it out a little bit by hitting with with the turkey baster blasts of water, and put it in higher flow, and a couple days later it extended and basically hasn't closed since.