Confused about Tubinaria spp.

[fierceseaman]

Ok guys, been going through thinking about purchasing a Turbinaria coral but I'm not sure which species. As I understand it Scroll Coral is the same thing as Cup Coral. Pagoda Cup coral is different from Cup Coral. I know there is some difficulty of distinction as to whether these are SPS or LPS but it seem that most people classify Pagoda Cup as an LPS with most of the other species being SPS. Am I understanding this correctly? Also do any of you have any experience with these?

I think I'm more interested in the Scroll/Cup Coral vice the Pagoda Cup, so I'm trying to understand the differences.

Thanks.

 

[Jefe12234]

Scroll coral is the common name for T. reniformis and pagoda cup coral is the common name for T. peltata. These are the two most common Turbinarias, although there are a couple other species. They are easy to tell apart since T. peltata has much larger polyps than T. reniformis. I consider them both to be LPS, but some people consider T. reniformis to be SPS. Here are examples of mine.

T. reniformis

T. peltata

I need to take new pics of them. They were both started from small frags about a year and a half ago, and both have at least doubled in size in that time. They are very easy to care for, but grow faster with regular feeding I've noticed. T. peltata can eat larger frozen foods, but T. reniformis needs small foods like cyclop-eeze.

 

[fierceseaman]

Awesome dude, way to put the issue to bed. I'd love to see more picture. Also, except for the large polyps, are these similar to Montipora in their plating/shape?

 

[Jefe12234]

T. reniformis is somewhat similar to the scrolling Montiporas although it tends to have a thicker skeleton and more irregular shape. T. peltata has a much thicker skeleton and tends to form single plates (although there are also column-like specimens). You could do a google image search for more examples of each. I also have a purple T. reniformis which is less common than the typical yellow variety but can be found if you look around. It's still a small frag, but starting to grow.

 

[fierceseaman]

So T. reniformis forms the very distinctive cup shape like the one shown here (http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=521) ? Or is this another species?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

water flow determines growth habit (cup or other shape)