Naaaame that Coral!!!

[MechEng99]

It's about 1" long by 1/2" wide. It's a very thin plate. Thanks!

 

[T Man]

Looks like Turbinaria, aka Scroll, Vase, Cup or Pagoda. TinMan

 

[Amazon4]

yup, that was my guess. My LFS has two scroll coral in stock. I was looking at them recently. Looks identicle.

 

[MechEng99]

Definitely not a scroll coral...I already have one of those, and it's nothing similiar. The polyps on this guy are the size of a pin-head. The guy at the LFS said it was some form of a Monti, but I can't find anything similiar, other than some random capricornis that didn't look too similiar. Thanks though.

 

[T Man]

Well then, I found a pic of Porites lichen that looks similar to your photo- the Montipora closely resembles it in color only. T

 

[MechEng99]

Hmm. I think I'll just have to wait until it gets bigger to identify. It's an absolutely stunning coral, especially at night.

What about a Montipora Hispida? The coloration and polyp structure look exact. I'm not sure how it will form once larger, but we'll see. Do Montipora Danaes only encrust, or do they also plate?

 

[MechEng99]

Here are some more pix for ID. I swear it's not a scroll coral unless it's like one I've never seen before.

 

[T Man]

What's the back look like? That might be a clue as well, I have a great field guide that I compare it to- for now it's looking more and more like a montipora, but on the other hand monti's have bare rims which is why I leaned towards the tubinaria.........TinMan

 

[MechEng99]

Yikes, sorry. I had a picture of the back that I deleted. The back is pure white and almost completely smooth except for a couple of tiny bumps. The piece is about as thin as a fingernail (but harder obviously.)

I'm sorry to be so persistent, but I hate not knowing what I'm working with.

 

[T Man]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10158373#post10158373 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MechEng99
Hmm. I think I'll just have to wait until it gets bigger to identify. It's an absolutely stunning coral, especially at night.

What about a Montipora Hispida? The coloration and polyp structure look exact. I'm not sure how it will form once larger, but we'll see. Do Montipora Danaes only encrust, or do they also plate?

I can't find a pic of the Hipida, but i did find a Danae that was plated, but had a bare rim - there is a spumosa monti that looks similar. I know how you feel when you can't ID a specimen, this one is puzzling to me also! TinMan

 

[MechEng99]

I have a notebook of all of my corals & their care in case I ever need referencing...and I can't do it for this one! GRRR.

If you Google Image Montipora Hispida, you should find a lot of links. I'd add the links on here, but I don't want to violate any policies.

Thanks for helping me Tinman, you've been awesome!

 

[saltyreefguy]

coral id

coral id

it looks abit similiar to mine in shape wise but one of the guys said it was called a
' eflo ', but i never heard of it.

 

[MechEng99]

SaltyReefGuy -- nice eflo...from what I know, they grow in a plate-like structure with little *spikes* (for lack of a better word) covering it, which definitely looks like yours.

I believe the jury is still out on mine. Mine lacks the spikey structure of an eflo, and it's now making polyps on the backside (which just confuses me more.) I'm still not sure if it's a plating or encrusting coral.

I guess I'll just give everyone an update in a few months.

Thanks everyone for trying!

 

[wentreefgirl]

I agree, not an efflo. I believe its in the Monti family, especially if the underside is smooth. Give it lots of love and post it again in a month and lets play gues your best again. I think with growth and coloring up, well know for sure.

 

[dogmatix]

It looks more like Echinpohyllia to me, an LPS rather than SPS common name is challice cup or alien eye scroll. I have one exactley the same colours as yours.

HTH

Ben