Rare Corals/Corals Absent from the Hobby

[GlassMunky]

Another coral I would love to see in the hobby are Micromussa multipunctata. They are very rare in the wild, and are poorly documented. They have a pretty narrow distribution in the coral triangle, being mostly a Malay-Philipine endemic. M. multipuncta differ from other Micromussa in that they are plocoid instead of cerioid. In situ, this is characterized by having sediment deposited in between their polyps, visible when the coenosarc is retracted.
Micromussa multipunctata, showing sediment between corallites; Sabah, Borneo | Credit: Tropical Research and Conservation Centre

Micromussa multipunctata, coenosarc obscuring deposited sediment; Sabah, Borneo | Credit: Tropical Research and Conservation Centre

Now Those are super cool

 

[encrustingacro]

Pectinia elongata.
Going to borrow this picture from @fishguy242 as he's the last person I know who had a colony.
The last frag I saw was sold by liveaquaria

You mean this?

Is that the type of Pectinia these are? I always wondered why they looked different that the Pectinia I see in other aquariums. They get pretty fluffy when I feed them.

I couldn't find the type material for Pectinia elongata, but looking at the CotW page, that species seems to have thinner, longer, less "plate-y" branches. The corals pictured look to just be a aberrant growth form.

 

[darrick001]

That torch exists? That's crazy!

Only if your willing to sell a kidney, your house and maybe your soul.

 

[Dburr1014]

I would like to see more blue ridge coral…. They used to be everywhere but now they are very hard to find.

I have some.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have some.

Those are cool! How long have you had them?

 

[Dburr1014]

Those are cool! How long have you had them?

Since December Christmas party in my club of 2019.
I remember cuz covid killed all the clubs. I got it for free from a vendor there.

 

[RSNJReef]

Super fake lol

Not at all, there were several conversations about these years ago and videos about them from the guys who tried to imitate both of these and the original importers of them stepped in to level the playing field, but, whatever makes you sleep better at night, go for it.

 

[Goaway]

 

[DangerDave]

Well that's pretty!

 

[Goaway]

Well that's pretty!

Yuh, seems like somethings are once in a lifetime. Sadly.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Pectinia elongata.
Going to borrow this picture from @fishguy242 as he's the last person I know who had a colony.
The last frag I saw was sold by liveaquaria

I just saw a nice size piece of this color morph for sale last night actually, I think the piece I saw has three colors

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Well that's pretty!

Beautiful but I think that’s purple I’ve seen it sold as the dark Knight torch, I’ve never seen a red torch personally, and I am not saying that they do not exist, I certainly would love to have one and place it next to the blue torch I just picked up over the weekend at RAP

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Coming from an exporter, what is brought in is dictated by the market. We would love to collect and send cool new or strange things, but often times they are not the radiating corals. With odd ball stuff, people are too particular, let alone the price they would be will to pay for a potentially brown thing. That being said. Here is a great example of something very uncommon, but cool.

What is it? There is no picture there.

 

[Goaway]

I just saw a nice size piece of this color morph for sale last night actually, I think the piece I saw has three colors

I've heard of coral being dyed. But this makes me wonder...

 

[Outlaw Corals]

Would like to see more of these. . . Heliofungia actiniformis?

I have no luck with those. I’ve had a few of them, but they just won’t open for me same as goni’s I can’t get them to open either

 

[Goaway]

The skeleton... shouldnt be red

 

[RSNJReef]

Beautiful but I think that’s purple I’ve seen it sold as the dark Knight torch, I’ve never seen a red torch personally, and I am not saying that they do not exist, I certainly would love to have one and place it next to the blue torch I just picked up over the weekend at RAP

I guess anything is possible but if someone can figure out what spectrum I have to run to make a purple torch look like that I’d run it in a heartbeat.

 

[Outlaw Corals]

i can’t think of any corals but i have been looking for a couple of fish i haven’t seen in ages, the Catalina Goby and the Tiger Catalina Goby

 

[RSNJReef]

I've heard of coral being dyed. But this makes me wonder...

I took a look at the original video of the red torch, and, most of the skeleton looks normal colored, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what that red splotch on the skeleton is.

 

[TheWorldsOceans]

Are there any corals either seldom found or nonexistent in the hobby that you wish you could keep or were more common in the hobby?

I'm keeping one rule on this thread that the corals have to realistically be able to enter into the hobby, so no Caribbean, Western Indian Ocean, temperate, or deepwater corals

I'll start:
Currently, virtually all Leptoseris in the hobby are of one species: L. mycetoseroides. I would love to see other Leptoseris species be imported--maybe something like L. papyracea/gardineri, or L. explanata/scabra.
Leptoseris gardineri; North Sulawesi, Indonesia | Credit: Ingo Rogalla

Leptoseris scabra; Funafuti, Tuvalu | Credit: Debra Baker

You don't see many of these around with this level of color.