White growth on coral skeleton, worms or sponge?

[moretor1]

It is very small and hard to photograph

 

[AlyciaMarie Verified Admin]

It's hard to tell, but it could be a sponge. That's my best guess! Maybe someone can jump on here and give you a solid ID!

 

[moretor1]

It's hard to tell, but it could be a sponge. That's my best guess! Maybe someone can jump on here and give you a solid ID!

They're growing so i think ill get a better picture eventually

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

They're growing so i think ill get a better picture eventually

Would love to see pics of it once it has grown a bit more - my first thought would be sponge growth too, but it looks a bit odd, so I'm curious how it'll turn out.

 

[moretor1]

Would love to see pics of it once it has grown a bit more - my first thought would be sponge growth too, but it looks a bit odd, so I'm curious how it'll turn out.

A much larger patch that gives me no answers

 

[shcrimps]

no clue but it looks cool

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

A much larger patch that gives me no answers

Sorry, been busy and falling behind on the forum responses - yeah, that's sponge, and a pretty neat-looking one. Very interesting growth pattern there; most likely a harmless filter-feeder:

Yeah, that's definitely a sponge. Most sponges are completely harmless/beneficial, but some can be invasive and/or harmful to corals (thankfully, these are rare).

To tell if a sponge is chemically harmful: if a healthy, established coral starts closing up or looking to be in bad shape on the side closest to the sponge as the sponge grows closer to it, and nothing else has happened (lighting changes, parameter swings, pests, etc.) that could explain it, then the sponge is probably chemically harmful.

Chemically harmful sponges are very rare.

For invasive sponges: unless it shows signs of being chemically harmful or starts actively growing over and smothering a coral's flesh/polyps, it's harmless. These can grow over the skeletons of corals, around the base/stalks of corals, even up into the water column above corals (where they're over the coral but not growing on the flesh or polyps themselves), etc. without harming the coral at all - as long as the coral flesh and polyps can get food, light, and flow, the sponge is harmless.

Invasive sponges are moderately rare.

Invasive and chemically harmful sponges are incredibly rare.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It is very small and hard to photograph

Pics are a little blurry and a little blue but looks like either sponge or sea slug