A. lovelli?

[Whisperer]

Hi guys, got this acro yesterday. It reminded me of the lovelli that I lost. I really liked a. lovelli so I grabbed this one. Looks like it has a chance.

Also got this one for half price since it has a dead spot. It looked promising. Did not realize it has blue polyps when I bought it. I was pleasantly surprised when it showed some polyps.

Anyone care to ID this second one?

 

[Joshua76]

those look like they'll become very nice colonies.



Joshua

 

[Kolognekoral]

Nice corals!. That second one is A. samoensis. Recognized from its two sized radials; the thick-walled tubulars and the immersed inbetween. Branches, also, tend to develope from the base. A personal favourite I rarely see in Europe.

The first does look to be A. lovelii.

 

[Whisperer]

Thanks guys, I was thinking the second one looks like an austera to me.

 

[Kolognekoral]

For A. austera the axials are a bit too short, but the main differences for me are the shorter, plumper radials aligned in rows with the immersed radials in bewteen. A. austera has radials of mixed sizes and with a very irregular placement. They, also, tend to be slightly bent and iregular in form. I often think of A. tortuosa being similar, just with fewer corallite per inch.

Of course, I could be wrong!

 

[Whisperer]

Perhaps this will help.

Still think it's samoensis?

 

[Kolognekoral]

What cool colours. This ones gonna grow up to be a beauty. I see what you mean, from this angle there are more sizes of radials. How thick are these branches? For A. austera they should be around 1"/22mm in diameter. Other species to consdier would be A. hemprichtii (branches finer), A. schmittii or A. scherzeriana. Some of these are disputed as to being true species. Veron supports them, Wallace is often of a different opinion. She places the last two with the digitata-gemmifera species in synonomy, although she sees A. samoensis (branches still finer) as distinct. From this angle, A. samoensis is less likely!

I think, when your piece developes a bit more, the end form will become clearer. Then the species should be easier to confirm. I hope you can document its developement. The foto is truly beautiful. I wish I could take such shots.