Red Gonipora question

[benf]

I noticed some of the tips on my Goni are purple now....Do Goni's go thru a change as they get older?

Here is a live feed of my Goni:
mms://bentheredonethat.us/fishcam

 

[nemo g]

ooo, got a pic?

 

[benf]

unfortunately, cant see the purple tips....I was told they are a defense mechanism that show up if the coral is close to another coral.

 

[waterfaller1]

I have a red with purple center and the tips are blue. I've never heard the part about color being used as a defense mechanism. What purpose would it serve?

 

[benf]

If it is the very tips of the tentacles that are becoming purple, it sounds like the tentacles are developing acrospheres. Are the tips also becoming a little larger? The acrospheres contain an increased number of nematocysts (stinging cells). They usually develop when the coral perceives some type of competition; either directly by touching another coral or indirectly through allelopathy (chemical aggression). Per John Kelly at Goniopora.org

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7850192#post7850192 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by benf
If it is the very tips of the tentacles that are becoming purple, it sounds like the tentacles are developing acrospheres. Are the tips also becoming a little larger? The acrospheres contain an increased number of nematocysts (stinging cells). They usually develop when the coral perceives some type of competition; either directly by touching another coral or indirectly through allelopathy (chemical aggression). Per John Kelly at Goniopora.org

My red Goni is doing the same thing. It's fairly close to a Stylophora coral, and half of the goni has acrospheres on the tips of the tentacles. The acrospheres make the tips look more clearish/purpleish.

 

[RandyO]

Here's the best pic I could come up with in short notice.

June 06

It opens up way bigger than that and brushes up against the Stylo, but you can see the white spheres at the end of the tips on one side of the coral.

 

[waterfaller1]

Is it harmful to the coral?

 

[RandyO]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7851273#post7851273 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waterfaller1
Is it harmful to the coral?

Acrospheres are not harmful to the Goni. They are defense mechanisms used to sting other corals.

 

[waterfaller1]

So as long as it's not touching another coral we are cool right?

 

[benf]

believe so!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Do you target feed that Goni, Randy?

 

[justincognito]

I've also noticed acrospheres in high flow areas of a colony, kinda like Galaxia and Euphyllia developing long sweepers in high flow.

Also I've seen my Goni's change color over the years, kinda like most other corals. Developing lighter or darker colors, even changing the shape of there polyps and tentacles.