"challice" pics...lets see em!

[RandyO]

Hey Rob. I picked up something similar last week. It's been changing color very quickly. Went from mostly green/blue with orange/pink mouths, to mostly orange now. I'd bet yours changes solid too. Very nice score.

 

[Jacob D]

These echinophyllias morph out more than anything else I've seen so far. I'm giving all mine a lot of light right now and watching them 'get crazy'.

 

[big bear1]

Can i get some help to id this?

 

[Jacob D]

Sweet Oxypora lacera.

 

[Jus Reefin]

Looks like Oxy pora to me but the pic is a little Dark.

Randy, I have had this guy for 4 days now and so far it's the same colors. When I first bought it I thought it was just a solid red until I got home then BAMM! i am really hooked on these corals now. i bought one a few months ago that I call "Fruit Loops" it loks like a Rainbow under 20k's but has turned so many different colors in other tanks, I have seen the same coral in other tanks and it's peach or green colored.

 

[MarksReef]

Jus Reefin. Looks like mine (top of page ).
big bear1, Nice.

 

[Kreeger1]

What kind of lighting and how far from it is everyone doing, I have my blue oxypora 12 inches under a 250 watt halide and my pink on the bottom, 24 inches
I'm wondering it I should move the pink up higher
Erik

 

[Jus Reefin]

All of mine are about a foot or more under 250w 10k ushio MH. I just added 2 dual 54w T-5 blues as well

MarksReef, they do look very similar

 

[Jacob D]

All of my challices/oxy's are 6-12 inches from the surface. My tank is 100% T5 lit.

 

[ReeferMac]

Can i get some help to id this?

Only if you send me a frag of it!
Sweet piece, man.

- Mac

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Can i get some help to id this?

Am I the only person that thinks the coral above is Echinophyllia?

Here's a "top down" shot of my 'Blue Chalice'

 

[rscotth]

I've have a few frags but I just got this colony. I am not sure what it is because I haven't been able to determine many differences in Echinopyllia, Echinopora or Oxypora. I have looked on the whelk aims site and can't seem to see any difference.

 

[ReeferMac]

How thick is the skeleton? Echinopora and Echinophyllia are similar looking at times, but I find the Echinopora to have a much thinner and more brittle skeleton. Echinophyllia have raised 'ridges' along the surface (damned if I can think of the name of that feature right now.. Gary, help me out here!) Septae?
Anyways, Oxy's and Echinophyllia look similar to me, in that they both appear more like an LPS.. a layer of tissue that 'floats' over top of a skeleton. It can contract and expand a little. Echinopora's look more like encrusting montipora's, than an LPS, IMO (when compared to Echinophyllia and Oxypora).
Does that make ANY sense?
... and if I had to guess... I'd say that frag is an Echinopora.

- Mac

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'm at a loss for the word, Mac, but I agree- Echinophyllia is definitely more 'fleshy' than most other 'chalice' type corals.

 

[rscotth]

The skeleton on that piece is very thin and has some skeletal ridges. I have a pink/green one that alo has a think skeleton but the growth is different. That one grows more encrusting while this one is more like a Monti cap. I thought is was an Echinopora but I can't say that I have ever seen an Oxypora except in pictures. Some of the others that I have have thin skeletons and some have thick. I don't guess it really matters I just would like to be able to tell the difference for the heck of it.

Here are a few pics of the frags that I have (these bad pictures were taken right after they were aclimated and were freshly cut):

And this is a very old picture of the first one that I got (the one that got me addicted to this type of coral) it has now completely covered the rock it was mounted on and is starting to plate outward. The person I got it from didn't know what it was but I have always called it an Echinophyllia.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Chrismo]

Dont echnopora's have much smaller polyps than echnophylia?

 

[ReeferMac]

Gary, you, at a loss for words? Mr Latin? C'mon.. I don't buy it. Were you drinking last night?

Scott, I'd say all of those frags pictured are Echinophyllia (and some very nice ones, too).

- Mac

 

[Jacob D]

I think the first one is an Oxy from the 'teeth' and lack of small pimples (don't know the scientific terms).

 

[rscotth]

Thanks for the replies. The first one had only been in my tank 5 minutes when I took that picture. If it changes any or if I can get a good macro shot I will post it.

Does anyone have pictures of all three of them that might show distinguishing characteristics? Looking at the whelk site they all look the same with flesh on them.

Scott

 

[ReeferMac]

Well, here is a pic of my purple Echinopora. I want to call it E. lamellosa, but really don't know about the species. You can see the resemblance to a plating monti, w/ it's plating growth form, and textured surface. It's the texture in the skin that I can spot, differentiating it from Echinophyllia.

Here's a close-up.

Here's a fairly close-up view of an Echinophyllia that I got from RandyO many years ago.

You can see the fleshy nature of the coral, and how it's surface is more inflated, almost like a Ricordea. The mouths are less exsert, less distinct, and especially at the growth margin, you can tell it's an LPS. That's a good 2-3 cm's of tissue extending beyond the skeleton. In person, when flow hits it and it looks like a bowl of jell-o, it's obviously a lot easier to spot. I don't have any pics of my Oxypora (recent acquisition), but it looks similar, w/o the bumps on the flesh (ala Ricordea).

Here's another good shot of a green Echinophyllia aspera I also got from RandyO.

- Mac