Please ID this coral

[HawkeyeDJ]

I recently purchased this coral at a local coral show and I've forgotten what it is. The borders are pale yellow and the centers are pale blue. It is growing well on my back wall.

 

[LiLinka]

Looks like favia of the gods, or blue flame favia.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I recently purchased this coral at a local coral show and I've forgotten what it is. The borders are pale yellow and the centers are pale blue. It is growing well on my back wall.

Not an SPS...

 

[HawkeyeDJ]

OK, a little more research and I think I have ID'd it.

Yellow submarine favia.

 

[encrustingacro]

This coral is a Dipsastraea, not Favia. A few years ago, Favia was reclassified to only be an Atlantic genus based on genetic evidence. The majority of Indo-Pacific "Favias" were moved to the genus Dipsastraea, with the rest going to Favites, Goniastrea, and Astraeosmilia. Multiple other genera and speciesare also called Favia by the hobby, such as Favites, Coelastrea, Astraeosmilia maxima, Goniastrea, Astrea, and sometimes Platygyra or Paragoniasrea.
The hobby seldom gets any stony corals from the Atlantic, as the collection and sale of Atlantic stony corals is illegal. The only Atlantic stony corals we have in the hobby are those that came as hitchhikers on maricultured live rock, and even then, those corals are illegal to sell.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

OK, a little more research and I think I have ID'd it.

Yellow submarine favia.

Nice Favia!

 

[HawkeyeDJ]

This coral is a Dipsastraea, not Favia. A few years ago, Favia was reclassified to only be an Atlantic genus based on genetic evidence. The majority of Indo-Pacific "Favias" were moved to the genus Dipsastraea, with the rest going to Favites, Goniastrea, and Astraeosmilia. Multiple other genera and speciesare also called Favia by the hobby, such as Favites, Coelastrea, Astraeosmilia maxima, Goniastrea, Astrea, and sometimes Platygyra or Paragoniasrea.
The hobby seldom gets any stony corals from the Atlantic, as the collection and sale of Atlantic stony corals is illegal. The only Atlantic stony corals we have in the hobby are those that came as hitchhikers on maricultured live rock, and even then, those corals are illegal to sell.

Interesting. Tell me more. Why are Atlantic corals illegal to sell?

 

[encrustingacro]

Interesting. Tell me more. Why are Atlantic corals illegal to sell?

Atlantic corals are illegal to collect and sell because CITES, the organization that oversees the trade of stony corals (along with other animals and plants), does not give out any permits for the collection or export of Atlantic stony corals. The reason for this is probably because the reefs in the Caribbean are in decline.