New one on me...???

[MechEng99]

OOOoook, I'm at a loss on this one. I saw the mother colony - encrusted a rock about the size of a grapefruit with a few offshots just like my frag. Seems to encrust mostly with a couple up-shoots, then make radial corallites. I can't describe how GREEN this coral is - photo doesn't capture it at all. This Acro is insanely radioactive green. Branches are tubular - just hollow inside and crumble if you try to frag them (notice the split down the center...oops). Polyps are a dark greenish-brown, are out during the day, and are the biggest polyps I've seen on an Acro (including A. Millepora, but they aren't fuzzy like that).

Any ideas? Just looking for a general idea so I know how much light/flow it'll need.

 

[emissary43]

to me it appears to be a heavily fragged Acropora tenuis

 

[buy_baff]

My first thought to was tenuis.

 

[MechEng99]

The LFS I got it from hasn't fragged it...in fact, I've been watching the colony for several months waiting for there to be a fraggable piece. I got the first piece from it. Not saying it'll continue encrusting like it did in the LFS, just that it wasn't fragged to a base constantly.

Hum, I have a few known tenuis and this one doesn't look at all like one. The branches/corallites are huge in comparison (so are the polyps), and they're hollow tubes. Guess I'll just wait to see how it grows out for me...or if it'll just encrust and encrust like it did at the LFS. Thanks for the heads up that it might be a tenuis.

 

[klepto]

Very interesting growth pattern. Try to get a pic of the mother for us.. ID'ing a small frag is especially difficult.

I agree that it doesn't look like A. tenuis, which have radial corallites arranged in a "...neat rosette and have slightly flaring lips" (Veron). While it is very early to start judging corallite structure, I just don't see the radials developing like a tenius. That in combination with the notably elongated axials raises some doubts.

 

[MechEng99]

I'll try to get the LFS to let me get a pic. It's a hidden gem in their back aquarium that is only under natural light (they just let those corals sit and grow...no one buys them...I think they are pretty much forgotten about). Under natural sunlight it just looks gray-brown. I bought it only b/c of the growth structure, not knowing it was going to be crazy green under metal halides (I think the LFS owner thought I was odd for buying such a dull-looking coral).

Anyway, Veron's book set is on my Christmas list. Hopefully Santa thinks I was good this year.

 

[Whisperer]

+1 on a tiny frag of tenuis. My very first impression as soon as I saw the pics.

 

[Frick]

I have to disagree with everyone. The coralites look nothing like a tenius. Take a look at A. Nasuta, that looks the most similar to me.

 

[Whisperer]

Aquacultured coralites do not look like their wild counterparts due to environmental differences. Not nasuta.

 

[Mr. Right]

I can neither confirm nor deny the possible tenius ID. I can tell you I was given a mini colony of what my friend called a tenius that looked very similar to the coral you have. I do agree that the corallites are different from what we see in a traditional tenius, but factors like flow, supplements, and placement can alter some of the growth patterns.

 

[MechEng99]

Maybe I'm used to "tiny frags" being what I get of Tyree corals, etc, but how is this frag a "tiny frag"? It's about 2" long x 1.5" wide x 1.5" tall - to me that's a little mini colony. It's on one of those 2" diameter frag discs. Anyway...

With all due respect, I've never seen A. tenuis with single-polyp branches 1/2" or so. I don't think captive-aquarium flow/supplements/etc can influence corallite structure to that extent. (The single-polyp branches in the photo are 1/4"-1/2" long and about 1/8" in diameter...pretty thick and long IMO). Maybe the scale is off in the photo, but the structure of this coral doesn't appear anything remotely like the A. tenuis I have in my aquariums.

 

[Frick]

Wait not Nasuta, Navini. My bad I knew it started with an N.

http://finsandcritters.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_12&products_id=31

 

[klepto]

Wait not Nasuta, Navini.

I was trending towards A. navini too, but I still think it is pretty early to say.

 

[dots]

Yourreef in Roseville, has had an Aculeus listed, but am unsure if it is this.

http://www.yourreef.com/collectorcoralspspage2.html



However, I had a piece that I just loved and had a problem id'ing it. I think it looks very similar to your.

earlier than previous, but gives colony shape when not moved.

I was of the thought mine was a selago, but again, not 100%

You will notice the same "lines" on the corralites, which isn't too common.

 

[MechEng99]

Dots - I think you hit the nail on the head!!! I'd know those polyps anywhere - they're huge! Plus the lines, corallite structure, and that's exactly what the mother colony looked like. Yay!

 

[klepto]

Good call Doug. Your colony and his frag look near identical. No surprise that lots of people were saying tenius as the two are similar species.

I was of the thought mine was a selago, but again, not 100%

You will notice the same "lines" on the corralites, which isn't too common.

Are the "lines" really that uncommon? I have seen them on numerous acros. Sometimes they are more evident. Are they always present on the A. selago that you have seen? Personally, I think judging by corallite structure is a safer route than by polyps or subtle traits like lines. Maybe I'm just being close-minded.

I dug up an old skeleton of my friends acro, which was identified as a selago and I noticed that it also has the defined lines.

I'm fairly confident that selago would be an appropriate ID for both of your corals.

 

[MechEng99]

Good call Doug. Your colony and her frag look near identical. No surprise that lots of people were saying tenius as the two are similar species.

I fixed your post. :clown:

So... A. selago? Why not A. aculeus? I looked up the AIMS pages, but it might as well be in Klingon.

 

[dots]

I was probably talking more to myself as I was looking at the Vernon book and will take the time to study some of these. I was more commenting on that the other species that could be labeled "similar" to this species in terms of colony growth shape, corralites, polyps,etc...that trait seemed uncommon and helped stand it apart....

You have to get to the "deep water" corals before you typically see it from what I could see in the Vernon book.

Do yourself a favor, find a nice place for it to grow out, in the middle of the tank and don't move it, it will get a sweet shape to it!!

Heck its all horseshoes and hand grenades when it comes to some of these corals......try again when you have a bigger colony of this to study. Bleach it and examine it all with an eye loupe.

I'm just happy that we get close sometimes with all the small, immature frags, poor photography, 2 dimensional perspectives, with just a single picture from a phone that we see.....

 

[dots]

Did you notice what a similar species was to the Selago on AIM's? Tenuis (I see that was already pointed out now)......one could go in circles and go crazy...... :worried:

 

[MechEng99]

No kidding! Once it comes out of QT, I'll put it in a good spot and leave it...and hopefully by the time it grows out I'll have Veron's set. I've started photographing coral skeletons and trying to ID them myself - pretty neat stuff. Anyway, Dots, I love how your coral looks, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one grow out. Thanks for posting your pics!