Digi.....or not???

[Tankster101]

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Got this from a friend and he didn't know what it was. I thought Green Digi at first but I have never seen one with reddish tissue like that. Any help with ID would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Frick]

Hard to say, judging from the size of the coral and pic I would say Montipora cf. digitata for now. There are a few other Montis that brach like that too.
http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0252
Could be a branching Porites species too. If there is septum in the corallites then it is Porites.
http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0608

 

[Tankster101]

Hmmmmmmm.......Do you mean septa? From the little research I did it seems like all stonies with polyps would have some kind of septum/mesenteries? I am extremely uneducated on this matter so please correct me if I'm wrong. Septa are the vertical "fins" for lack of a better term and the septum is basically the tissue that leads to the mouth and connects to the septa? The polyps are very round and smooth looking. They do retract all the way into the skeleton but I can't tell if there are septa. The tissue seems very thick and smooth unlike the digitas I have seen. Thank you!http://www.enchantedlearning.com/cgifs/Coralpolyp_bw.GIF

 

[Frick]

Hmmmmmmm.......Do you mean septa? From the little research I did it seems like all stonies with polyps would have some kind of septum/mesenteries? I am extremely uneducated on this matter so please correct me if I'm wrong. Septa are the vertical "fins" for lack of a better term and the septum is basically the tissue that leads to the mouth and connects to the septa? The polyps are very round and smooth looking. They do retract all the way into the skeleton but I can't tell if there are septa. The tissue seems very thick and smooth unlike the digitas I have seen. Thank you!http://www.enchantedlearning.com/cgifs/Coralpolyp_bw.GIF

Septa is plural for a septum. So yes I that also works. It can mean skeleton or tissue wall, since I was referring to the skeleton that is what i meant for the difference. Porites has these walls in the corallite skeleton and Montipora does not.

sep•tum (ˈsɛp təm)

n., pl. -ta (-tə).
a dividing wall, membrane, or the like, in a plant or animal structure; dissepiment.
[1710–20; < New Latin; Latin saeptum enclosure]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[Tankster101]

Ahhh ok. I misunderstood the article I was reading. Thank you for the lesson and the help!

 

[Frick]

No problem. I am learning all the time too. Just passing down what I have found over the years.