Stereonephthya Keepers Thread

[Acroporaguy]

Here's a night shot I took a while ago.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

it is most definitely a stereonepthya as it has scelrites. Here is a photo of when I first got it. It has grown since then.

Sclerites does not mean it’s stereonephthya. Litophyton has sclerites. Some of them so bold it could be mistake. For lito. The big difference is the shape of the polyps. Those polyps, from what I can see in the photo, do not expand or close in the manner stereo does and they are also very small and stereo normally has larger polyps.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

I somehow cut off part of my reply. Since the polyps are colored and the body white there is a good chance this is a non photosynthetic version of stereo. So you may have to work a bit harder to keep it alive

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Here's a night shot I took a while ago.

Still looks like litophyton to me.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Here's a night shot I took a while ago.

Here is a picture of some litophyton I have that’s remarkably similar to the photo you took.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

And here is some lito with a white body and yellow polyps. Note how the polyps do not fold to the extreme stereo does.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I somehow cut off part of my reply. Since the polyps are colors and the body white there is a good chance this is a non photosynthetic version of stereo. So you may have to work a bit harder to keep it alive

Also when the lights come on, eventually it should open up fully. Especially when the lights come on.

 

[Acroporaguy]

Here is a picture of some litophyton I have that’s remarkably similar to the photo you took.

Interesting! When mine closes up it looks super "spikey", almost like it has a skeleton. It doesn't close up like how your frag does in the photo you sent. I'll try and grab a photo of it when it happens. It looks almost identical to the Koji Wada nepthea photo on unique corals website, especially in white light. Is the koji wada a lito? I still think it's beautiful regardless of what species it is Edit: found a photo from reef raft, my piece is from the same colony

 

[NDIrish]

So, the stereonephthya people are selling is actually litophyton?

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Interesting! When mine closes up it looks super "spikey", almost like it has a skeleton. It doesn't close up like how your frag does in the photo you sent. I'll try and grab a photo of it when it happens. It looks almost identical to the Koji Wada nepthea photo on unique corals website, especially in white light. Is the koji wada a lito? I still think it's beautiful regardless of what species it is Edit: found a photo from reef raft, my piece is from the same colony

The one I sent is the "koji not koji" I got from unique corals. I also got some of the standard from them but then the frag I posted as well. My frag is also spiky. Litophyton can go from no supporting bundles to substantial ones, just as stereo can have larger and smaller ones (spikes).
If you look at how your polyps pull in rather than folding like a jack knife, that's why I think it's Litophyton. The once "nephthea" species since merged with the older class litophyton.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

So, the stereonephthya people are selling is actually litophyton?

I don't know 100%, but I would be willing to bet yes, most likely. I am hopefully going to be sending samples to Dr. Alderslade in Australia so that he can look at them under a microscope to get a better idea.
But still, unless the coral is DNA'd there's still room for error. DNA is how they figured out nephthea didn't exist, it was litophyton even though it looks very different than the "classic" Lito.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Interesting! When mine closes up it looks super "spikey", almost like it has a skeleton. It doesn't close up like how your frag does in the photo you sent. I'll try and grab a photo of it when it happens. It looks almost identical to the Koji Wada nepthea photo on unique corals website, especially in white light. Is the koji wada a lito? I still think it's beautiful regardless of what species it is Edit: found a photo from reef raft, my piece is from the same colony

here is a photo of mine when completely retracted.

 

[Acroporaguy]

The one I sent is the "koji not koji" I got from unique corals. I also got some of the standard from them but then the frag I posted as well. My frag is also spiky. Litophyton can go from no supporting bundles to substantial ones, just as stereo can have larger and smaller ones (spikes).
If you look at how your polyps pull in rather than folding like a jack knife, that's why I think it's Litophyton. The once "nephthea" species since merged with the older class litophyton.

interesting, thanks for the info!

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

And yes Koji Wada Nephthea ( if it’s nephthea) would be litophyton since the Nephthea species no longer exists.

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

FWIW: Because the differences between Litophyton, stereo, and chromo, can be so minute, we could very well learn that all the stereo we think is stereo that we successfully keep in our tanks, is actually litophyton. Some seem to think the only real stereo is non-photosynthetic, yet I and others have had specimens that meet the physiological requirements for the species yet obviously thrive in light and react in a very photosynthetic way. And there are biologists in the field who say yes, some types are photosynthetic.
Recently someone mentioned reclassifying Dendronephthya as spongodes so I asked Dr. Alderslade about it. If I understood correctly he said if they were going to reclassify Dendronephthya it would fall under litophyton, I think because of the DNA similarities (can't remember 100% why other than Lito being an older name). But Dendronephthya shouldn't change at all because of how it's recognized, and how long the species name has been around. But it if were--theoretically--it too would become Lito.
In the end, the only way we will have truly know what is what is when they get done doing DNA analysis of specimens and we have a better physiological map to go by.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you like the way the nephtheidae coral looks, don't worry about the species being 100% accurate, just get it because you like it.

 

[bam123]

I'd like to see a gallery of people who have kept beautiful branching softies (stereo, lito, dendro variants) that are photosynthetic and easy to keep without "daily" target feeding.

 

[BradB]

I'd take any taxonomy with a grain of salt until more DNA is tested. Does it really matter?

 

[NDIrish]

Could this be a stereonephthya? (Just trying to identify it)
Look in the circle. The three polyps are still closed and they appear to have the elbows.

 

[bam123]

I'd take any taxonomy with a grain of salt until more DNA is tested. Does it really matter?

That was my point. Looking for pictures of people's soft tree corals that are photosynthetic. While different species may look very similar, it would be useful for people like me)

 

[MixedFruitBasket]

Could this be a stereonephthya? (Just trying to identify it)
Look in the circle. The three polyps are still closed and they appear to have the elbows.

If I had to guess, yes, it looks like stereo. Especially with the yellow tips on the branches.