Is this polyp bailout?

[Chris_Gillespie]

Does this look like polyp bailout? Or is it something else? I've had this pocillopora for a couple months, and it has grown nicely. But shortly after changing halide bulbs, it developed poor polyp extension and then white patches on the inner branches. All my water parameters are good and stable. Other coral seem fine. Thanks.

 

[rhinonm]

I would imagine something is eating it. Check for fuzzy crabs, aefw ext.

 

[ajcanale]

I've never heard of "polyp bailout," I assume it essentially means RTN, Rapid Tissue Necrosis. Regardless, it looks healthy to me. Also, AEFW (Acropora eating flatworms) would be harmless to a Poci.

 

[phasezero]

Your colony looks about the size of when the pocillopora would start creating little buds everywhere so it is possible. If your alk and ph has been pretty stable then I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Reef Bass]

I've never heard of "polyp bailout," I assume it essentially means RTN, Rapid Tissue Necrosis. Regardless, it looks healthy to me. Also, AEFW (Acropora eating flatworms) would be harmless to a Poci.

I've experienced polyp bailout with LPS but not SPS. It appears to be a last ditch survival effort where a polyp abandons its skeleton and goes for a float trying to find somewhere else to establish. Generally not a good sign.

There is another behavior similar to polyp bailout which has taken on the name "dripping". The polyp literally elongates and appears to drip off the colony. That seems to be more of an asexual reproduction scheme.

And FWIW, I've seen AEFW on Stylophora, another member of the family Pocilloporidae.

 

[elmafioso52988]

It does look like the colony is going through RTN. Kind of hard to tell. Is the skin peeling off or are you just concerned about the polyps that look darkened?

 

[Chris_Gillespie]

It looks like the affected tissue has a subtle swiss cheese appearance—specks of bare skeleton where the polyps were located. The white areas are only on the inner branches, and they are separate patches. I don’t have any bristleworms in my system as I used dry rock. The polyp extension at night is excellent.

 

[tycoakley]

I find that my pocillopora is the most finicky of all my sps coral. Out of 40 SPS corals in my tank this one always reacts in the worst way to minor changes.

 

[Wills612]

I never noticed polyps missing from my poci. I just noticed all the babies sprouting up everywhere. If it dies good riddance I say.

 

[Chris_Gillespie]

Mystery solved! Yes, this is a case of polyp bailout. I just found five of them around the tank--two on the rocks, and three on the glass bottom. I can see now how Pocillopora can spread like a weed.

The babies are very small and difficult to photograph. Here is my best shot. BTW the mother colony is recovering well.

 

[Piper27]

I've experienced polyp bailout with LPS but not SPS. It appears to be a last ditch survival effort where a polyp abandons its skeleton and goes for a float trying to find somewhere else to establish. Generally not a good sign.

There is another behavior similar to polyp bailout which has taken on the name "dripping". The polyp literally elongates and appears to drip off the colony. That seems to be more of an asexual reproduction scheme.

And FWIW, I've seen AEFW on Stylophora, another member of the family Pocilloporidae.

Was the worm eating the stylo? I havent heard of this before. And personally i would never worry about this happening.

 

[Reef Bass]

I dipped the stylo and saw flatworms in the dip bucket. In my experience, in a heavy infestation, flatworms become less discriminating with their diet.

If, heaven forbid, I should be unfortunate enough to encounter AEFW again, I will be dipping my stylos along side my acros.