Acropora ID Please?

[MechEng99]

Any idea what this could be? It was very bright green when I purchased it, and the branches were very smooth. During QT, it browned out, and started developing polyps all over with a blue encrusting ring on the base. Now it's in the grow-out tank, so we'll see how it continues to grow. I know it's hard to get a good guess at a species, but figured I'd see if there were any guesses anyway. Thanks!

 

[dan223]

looks similar to lokani.

 

[Atomikk]

It could be A. simplex.

 

[MechEng99]

Hum, I'm not convinced on either of those, but they're great places to start. I'll keep watching the frag grow...and see if it ever resembles either one of those...or something else. Thanks!

 

[MechEng99]

Excuse my ignorance on Acropora species, but is there any way it could be a suharsonoi? The colony photos on the AIMS website resembles the mother colony my frag came from and a colony on DFS looks exactly like the mother colony.

 

[Atomikk]

Only way it is A. surhasonoi is if its axial corallites (tips) are tapered (pointy).. which the above is not... for now.

 

[Kolognekoral]

A. surharsonoi has much more tapered and longer axials and almost no radials. A. lokani is typically more compact growing and has a 'stumpier' growth. A. simplex, well, it just doesn't fit well. It may be A. jacquelineae or A. caroliniana. In fotos, they can look similar, although the former is much finer built and very delicate looking, while the later is similar to A. lokani, except it always forms a table and has short, tapered axials. In any case, it looks to belong in the A. loripes group of corals. There are quite a few corals in this group that seem to grade from one species to the next. Also, growing conditions effect the morphology. A truly beautiful groups of corals, especially for their luminous colour.

 

[dvanacker]

It does look like a.coraliniana...too early to be %100 but that would be my guess too.

 

[MechEng99]

Wow, sorry I missed all this discussion until now! Thanks guys - glad to see the resident coral ID experts chiming in! Seems to be growing quite rapidly, so hopefully an updated growth shot will give some more info later. The blue base is really coming out to highlight the green luminous color. Whatever it is...I like it! Thanks again everyone!