Red Acan Maxima for CHEAP!!!

[ReefDoctorMicromussas]

I just love listening to Randy speak I always feel smarter afterward

 

[BOKER420]

RandyO-- If your saying that a coral with minor differences in coloration , shape and location is most likely a different species then what are your thoughts on the Aussie acans that are from a different location, different colorations and also smaller than their indo cousins but still they are called Acanthastrea lords? You could talk for days on the differing growth patterns and colors of specific species of Acropora in multiple locations.

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10002399#post10002399 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BOKER420
RandyO-- If your saying that a coral with minor differences in coloration , shape and location is most likely a different species then what are your thoughts on the Aussie acans that are from a different location, different colorations and also smaller than their indo cousins but still they are called Acanthastrea lords? You could talk for days on the differing growth patterns and colors of specific species of Acropora in multiple locations.

I'm not an expert on coral identification. But I have seen and handled my fair share of corals people refer to as Acanthastrea lordhowensis.
After getting my hands on some Aussie Acans, I actually had some doubts to whether they are the same species of corals as the corals we call Acanthastrea lordhowensis from Indonesia.
I ran a few of them through the tile saw and noticed some differences. For one thing, out of the 4 or 5 I fragged up, not a single one of them had the same corallite structure. One had very small polyps, and with the polyps closed I could feel a perfect circle of costa/teeth. One's skeleton looked and felt more like an A.echinata than a lordhowensis. And the different colonies all had different corallite sizes.

So do I think it's possible the corals in Australia are different species than the corals found in Indonesia, Yes.

But when I see these bright red corals that barely inflate 20% larger than the skeleton, they just don't look anything like the pictures that describe the species Acanthastrea maxima.

Until a skeletal examination is performed, no one will know for sure.

 

[jaugermeister]

wow never seen anything like that before, very cool looking clams...

 

[BOKER420]

RandyO I was actually talking about the coral I bought on EBAY, not the reefermadness one. And I was just trying to point out that there are variations of a lot of different corals.

 

[water hazzard]

So you are the one who got it....(Monkeygirlzrule) Thought I had it..

 

[BOKER420]

At the last minute I changed my mind on my high bid. I was only going to put 420.00 then you would have won it. Sorry

 

[jaugermeister]

you guys have some serious cash laying around to drop that amount on one piece.

 

[BOKER420]

I wish. That just about took me to the bank.

 

[jaugermeister]

when I hit the lotto jackpot I will hook you up then... wish me luck...

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10005497#post10005497 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BOKER420
RandyO I was actually talking about the coral I bought on EBAY, not the reefermadness one. And I was just trying to point out that there are variations of a lot of different corals.

Hey,
You are correct that there are variations corals from species to species. And in my opinion there are many more corals out there and in our tanks that have not been described by experts like Jen Veron. But every single undescribed large polyp Musside gets the name Acanthastrea maxima slapped on it, when it's describer states it's only found in Oman waters.

So while I love to see all these unusual morphs, putting the name A. maxima to them all just seems ludicrous to me.

These are just the A. maximas in this thread. There's hundreds of them out there, and very few of them look the same.

 

[Creetin]

How do they know its only found in oman waters? Since the question is out, Who is the diver that looked over every square inch of reef everywhere and came to that conclusion?
Nothings impossable, No one can say without a doubt they are ONLY from omen waters can they?
This is not a flame, I see the point made over and over, and i just like to play devils advocate for a minute.

 

[burton14e7]

The bowerbanki's are quite large more along the lines of an American silver dollar than several inches though but they seem to have the more traditional colors we seek.

 

[RandyO]

More pictures of unusual Mussides

Photo from Atlantisaquarium.net

Photo by Slojmn

Photo by Calero

Photo by All Delight

Photo by reefer714

 

[RandyO]

I don't want to be known as the Acanthastrea police. It would be nice to be able to put a Genus and species name to all of these pieces, but at this point I don't think we have the tools to do so.

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10006416#post10006416 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Creetin
How do they know its only found in oman waters? Since the question is out, Who is the diver that looked over every square inch of reef everywhere and came to that conclusion?
Nothings impossable, No one can say without a doubt they are ONLY from omen waters can they?
This is not a flame, I see the point made over and over, and i just like to play devils advocate for a minute.

Hey Creetin,
I don't have names for you.(yet ) But the reefs were surveyed.

And this is what was found.

Distribution for A.maxima

Distribution for A.lordhowensis

Distribution for A.echinata

Distribution for A.subechinata

Distribution for Lobophyllia hemprichii

L.hemprichii

I would guess these are not estimates and that actual field research was done to get these Distribution maps.

 

[All Delight]

Mine is it, mine is it

 

[neyugn0w01]

Leave Randy alone. The guy probably give the most useful info in this forum.

 

[RandyO]

 

[BOKER420]

Here's a pic of mine with a metric ruler. The size is just about right on for a maxima.