brain Coral producing something

[rschneid]

anyone know what this is coming off of my brain coral?
Its not mucous and I am not sure if the picture shows this but its clearly an organized structure of some kind.

Rich S.

 

[rschneid]

better pics

better pics

here are some better pics

 

[rschneid]

update, my tang ate most of it (whatever it was)

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Maybe some type of shedding? I've never owned a brain coral so not sure but kind of what it looks like it could be.

 

[SaltyWalter]

Looks like a tight bunch of stinging cells that they put out to go after other corals. Wouldn't worry about it, I've seen lots of them!

 

[Reef Bass]

Looks like a tight bunch of stinging cells that they put out to go after other corals. Wouldn't worry about it, I've seen lots of them!

I agree they look like that. What I would be concerned with is the tang allegedly consuming them, as it would be eating part of the coral. Are you sure they were eaten and not just retracted in response to being picked on?

 

[tbacon]

maybe excess bacteria?

 

[kurt_n]

Looks like a tight bunch of stinging cells that they put out to go after other corals. Wouldn't worry about it, I've seen lots of them!

Yup... mesenterial filaments - they're used for defense. I doubt the Tang ate them. More than likely the coral sucked them back in. They can do it pretty quick.