Is this some kind of blue xenia?

[smilodon]

I got this blue stalk with green tentacles xenia, wonder if some one can ID it.

It got blue stalk with green tentacle, and not big as pulsing xenia.
The owner of LFS though it's some kind of GSP at the first place.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

yes it is a kind of Xenia

regards

Markus

 

[cjdevito]

No, it's not. It is, however, a xeniid. What you've got there is a sympodium.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

I just googled for Sympodium, but what I found - for me it looks different.

regards

Markus

 

[cjdevito]

You're probably looking at pics of it closed. See http://************.com/2010/07/26/sympodium/

Lol, the site I attempted to link above is apparently on RC's hit list, for reasons I can't even guess. Still, do a google image search for 'sympodium coral' and several results on the first page should show what I mean.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

no I found open ones but they look different and have a differnt colour as well as the above posted pics.

regards

Markus

 

[cjdevito]

The above posted pics show a coral with a baby-blue base and outer polyps. Inner side of the polyps are green with red-brown pinnules. I know this because: I have this exact same coral, I've seen this exact same coral photographed by a half dozen dealers who have been selling it over the past few months, I've seen the video of this coral that was posted to youtube last spring when the original importer was looking for an identification of it, I've read the article on the website RC won't let me link to that features photos and the positive identification of this coral, and I've searched out every forum post made anywhere in the past six months that included the word sympodium.

Some examples...
http://www.bareefers.org/home/node/11060
http://www.thescmas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=94314
http://www.lareefs.com/index.php?ma...id=798&zenid=27f95efed4d9d3bb5d39b9f591ee9e7d
http://www.reefhotspot.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8371

Seriously, it's sympodium.

 

[Apercula]

I haven't done nearly the research on Sympodium as cjdevito, but my first thought seeing the original picture was that it is Sympodium.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

ok, well for me if I look at the posted picture I did not see any blue or green but brown and therefore for me it looked like this:
http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/1384_Xenia_elongata.htm

but anyhow "Sympodium" is an artificial latin expression for this coral, if you search the taxonomy you cannot find it; has to have another correct latin name...

regards

Markus

 

[cjdevito]

but anyhow "Sympodium" is an artificial latin expression for this coral, if you search the taxonomy you cannot find it; has to have another correct latin name...

regards

Markus

Sorry, sympodium is indeed a valid genus name - at least as much as any soft coral genus can be considered valid, with all the flux involved in soft coral taxonomy. Aderslade cites it as a valid genus, Sprung cites it as a valid genus, Borneman cites it as a valid genus, Nilsen & Fossa cite it as a valid genus, and Dana Riddle not only cites it as a valid genus, he touches on the reproductive strategy of a specific species within the genus, Sympodium caeruleum, in this article....
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2008/10/aafeature1

The Catalog of life (www.catalogoflife.org) lists two species as valid, s. caeruleum and s. fulginosum.

In fact, the genus is long standing. It was erected by Ehrenberg in 1834.

 

[MarkusII]

Hello,

ok, you are right there exist two species on the taxonomy (thanks for the links);
but you cannot find any picture with google using the two names

maybe smilodon can post a better picture to see the true look of the coral and the colours.

just below the listing of the species in the article you stated you see a picture of the Xenia I assumed was shown in smilodons picture.

regards

Markus

 

[cjdevito]

Hello,

ok, you are right there exist two species on the taxonomy (thanks for the links);
but you cannot find any picture with google using the two names

I don't know anyone who would be comfortable trying to make a definitive identification to the species level on this, so not surprising you can't find photos claiming to be specific to one species or another rather than just the family. It would take a living specimen, a microscope and a braver man than I to try and determine species ID. But that's a situation that applies to a large number of soft coral families, and is hardly unique to sympodium. If someone were to claim a species as opposed to family identification of a cespitularia, efflatounaria or sansibia, for example, I would be rather skeptical of their claim.

maybe smilodon can post a better picture to see the true look of the coral and the colours.

I confess, I would like to see the original poster put up further pictures, but that's mostly because most of the current photos of sympodium on the web are dealer photos... many of which have been horribly photoshopped. I'd like to have more 'honest' photos to add to my file.

That said though, Smilodon was quite clear in his original post. The first line he wrote was, "I got this blue stalk with green tentacles xenia, wonder if some one can ID it."