Unknown coral bought on OfferUp

[Kyuubi]

Hey so I bought this weird red coral thing a few months ago and just kind of set it in my aquarium. I have no idea what it is, guy I bought it from didn’t know what it was either but said it was from Mexico. It doesn’t glow under blue light, the polyps will catch mysis sometimes, and I’ve been feeding with reef roids and plankton as well. It’s been doing great for several months now. Does anyone have any idea what it is?

 

[F i s h y]

Hey so I bought this weird red coral thing a few months ago and just kind of set it in my aquarium. I have no idea what it is, guy I bought it from didn’t know what it was either but said it was from Mexico. It doesn’t glow under blue light, the polyps will catch mysis sometimes, and I’ve been feeding with reef roids and plankton as well. It’s been doing great for several months now. Does anyone have any idea what it is?

Looks like some sort of gorgonia @sp1187 thoughts?

 

[Kyuubi]

Looks like some sort of gorgonia @sp1187 thoughts?

That’s what I was thinking but I can’t find the exact type, it has large polyps, the biggest head is about the size of a pea.

 

[MaxTremors]

Hey so I bought this weird red coral thing a few months ago and just kind of set it in my aquarium. I have no idea what it is, guy I bought it from didn’t know what it was either but said it was from Mexico. It doesn’t glow under blue light, the polyps will catch mysis sometimes, and I’ve been feeding with reef roids and plankton as well. It’s been doing great for several months now. Does anyone have any idea what it is?

Looks like some sort of parazoanthus, similar to yellow polyps.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Looks like some sort of parazoanthus, similar to yellow polyps.

This is what I was thinking, they’re just encrusted onto a stick. Overall OP, very cool looking piece! Kinda scary that they catch Mysis though, my yellow polyps have never done that

 

[Kyuubi]

Looks like some sort of parazoanthus, similar to yellow polyps.

Do those have branching varieties? It has a skeleton similar to a gorgonian, but I haven’t seen polyps that large on one before. It has branched and grown a bit since I’ve had it.

 

[F i s h y]

That’s what I was thinking but I can’t find the exact type, it has large polyps, the biggest head is about the size of a pea.

This is closest I can find

Orange Tree Gorgonian

www.aquariumcreationsonline.net

 

[F i s h y]

It's non photosynthetic so that would explain catching foods.

 

[F i s h y]

Could be these

Parazoanthus swiftii - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[MaxTremors]

Do those have branching varieties? It has a skeleton similar to a gorgonian, but I haven’t seen polyps that large on one before. It has branched and grown a bit since I’ve had it.

I know that there are some encrusting varieties, so I wouldn’t be surprised to learn there is a branching variety.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Found some photos off Google, I think you do have orange parazoanthus. I don’t think they come from Mexico, but unless he collected them himself I wouldn’t really take his word on that. How do the polyps look when they’re closed? That would be a surefire way to tell what they are Theres some closed ones on the left of the first pic for reference

 

[F i s h y]

Not sure if these are the same thing, it says entrusting anemones.

 

[F i s h y]

Found some photos off Google, I think you do have orange parazoanthus. I don’t think they come from Mexico, but unless he collected them himself I wouldn’t really take his word on that. How do the polyps look when they’re closed? That would be a surefire way to tell what they are Theres some closed ones on the left of the first pic for reference

@footgal the first link I posted was Caribbean. What are your thoughts? I think they are pretty close.

Parazoanthus swiftii

 

[PicassoClown04]

Not sure if these are the same thing, it says entrusting anemones.

Zoanthids used to be classified as a species of anemone, they’re written as such in the Reef Aquarium book by Julian Sprung and Charles Delbeek from like 20 years ago. They’ve been reclassified since then as a separate species

 

[PicassoClown04]

@footgal the first link I posted was Caribbean. What are your thoughts? I think they are pretty close.

They look close, but those have a symbiotic relationship with sponges that they encrust on. For the most part, sponges don’t really survive well in the aquarium without special care

 

[F i s h y]

They look close, but those have a symbiotic relationship with sponges that they encrust on. For the most part, sponges don’t really survive well in the aquarium without special care

I agree. I wondered if the object they were on was a sponge.

Love these mystery peices. Very cool peice.

I used to have the yellow polyps in the early 2000s haven't been able to find any since restarting in the hobby.

 

[Kyuubi]

Found some photos off Google, I think you do have orange parazoanthus. I don’t think they come from Mexico, but unless he collected them himself I wouldn’t really take his word on that. How do the polyps look when they’re closed? That would be a surefire way to tell what they are Theres some closed ones on the left of the first pic for reference

Yeah so dude I got it from told me he harvested it when he went on a fishing trip from Baja California, hooked a huge specimen from 150ft deep and decided to sell it.

 

[Kyuubi]

Zoanthids used to be classified as a species of anemone, they’re written as such in the Reef Aquarium book by Julian Sprung and Charles Delbeek from like 20 years ago. They’ve been reclassified since then as a separate species

If mine gets big enough to frag, you’re welcome to try your hand with these!

 

[PicassoClown04]

Yeah so dude I got it from told me he harvested it when he went on a fishing trip from Baja California, hooked a huge specimen from 150ft deep and decided to sell it.

Wow that’s crazy! I’m shocked it survived the decompression from that depth then the switch to very bright aquarium lights! These are very cool; I’ve never seen orange ones before, only the kinda bland yellow polyps that are mostly brownish under regular blue lighting

 

[vetteguy53081]

Parazoanthus gracilis