Schizoculina fissipara

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Just recently grabbed this gem of of DD. I grabbed it quick too because I figured it wouldn't be on for too long.

It's the first coral I'm aware of to be offered from West African waters. I think they might have had this coral offered yesterday evening as well. If so, who else bought it?

I'll update when I get it and make sure to keep updating with how it fares in my tank. With how my other non-photo stuff is going, particularly my sun corals, I shouldn't have a problem with this guy.

 

[rowjimmy]

aninjaatemyshoe,

Congrats on the purchase! You are correct...there was one offered yesterday on DD that I missed. When I saw it today I tried for it and had hit finalize order in my shopping cart, and then it just vanished.

You must of beat me by a hair of a second I swear! I'm glad it is in good hands though and went to a fellow NPS keeper! :thumbsup: It looks to be in excellent health. Would like the other winner yesterday to chime in as well if they are on the boards. Please keep us posted on this beautiful new NPS coral from Africa.

 

[GreshamH]

Just recently grabbed this gem of of DD. I grabbed it quick too because I figured it wouldn't be on for too long.

It's the first coral I'm aware of to be offered from West African waters. I think they might have had this coral offered yesterday evening as well. If so, who else bought it?

I'll update when I get it and make sure to keep updating with how it fares in my tank. With how my other non-photo stuff is going, particularly my sun corals, I shouldn't have a problem with this guy.

Mine landed the other day, I just haven't gone and picked it up yet.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

holy cow. Who else has this?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

this is a non photo coral for sure?

 

[rowjimmy]

this is a non photo coral for sure?

According to DD it is. I was so close to getting this coral I scanned the DD info sheet to my computer. Here it is:

 

[joetbs]

this is a non photo coral for sure?

there is not much knowledge on these corals. i personally think they are photosynthetic but it could be like Oculina from the caribbean where they are documented as being both zoo & azoo. they seem to like medium flow and lower light. i have not attempted to feed them much but they don't catch food as opportunistically as heteropsammia or duncanopsammia. there is S. fissapara with the growth that kinda plates as opposed to having knobby digitate branches like S. africana as pictured below. they seem pretty hardy as most animals from the gulf of guinea and should thrive in any reef tank without much special attention.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Joetbs, do you have this coral or do you know someone who has it?

So Gresham, are you the other owner from Diver's Den, or did you get it from some other source?

I'll make sure to pay special attention to how it reacts to light in case it is partially photosynthetic. I do have one light on my tank, an LED spot that gives pretty intense light in one particular spot in my tank. I'll be target feeding it twice daily, as I do with all of my other corals. That combined with the food that gets released in the water column continuously should be more than enough hopefully.

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Thanks Rowjimmy,

Btw, I'll make sure that, once I have this guy healthy and growing, I'll frag him out to fellow NPS keepers. I agree with Rowjimmy on the front he has taken the Arcohelia rediviva thread; if the coral is going to be really rare in the hobby, better that it is fragged out so that more than just a few people have it. That is all assuming of course that I can get it to grow.

 

[DFS]

Veron J. 2000. Corals of the World Volume 2. Australian Institute of Marine Science. Townsville MC. Australia. Pp. 95:

"families: Euphyllidae. Genera: Most Oculinidae are azooxanthellate. In the Indo-Pacific the zooxanthellate genera are the common Galaxea and the rare Simplastea vesicularis. In the Atlantic the family is represented by Oculina, which is mostly azooxanthellate, and Schizoculina which (alone of all coral gernera) is endemic to the West African coast."

If you look at the genus Oculina, which Schizoculina most closely resemble, some species are BOTH zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate depending on the light availability, so I would assume the same holds true for Schizoculina.

This was a very tough call to tell the truth. Based on the coloration it could possibly be a photosynthetic coral, but that is surely not a good indicator. There is zero information out there about this genus with the exception of Taxonomic records from trying to research these corals.

I am going to do some tests on two identical pieces. Maintain one in very low to no light and pound it with food, and maintain the other in moderate light with good flow and offer no food source. I know this will take a bit of time to yield any results, but I would think if the coral is in fact photosynthetic; the low to no light specimen will bleach white with clear or translucent tentacles.

Ill keep you up to speed.

Cheers,

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Thanks Kevin! I don't know if I could expect this level of knowledge, interest, or involvement from any other online coral distributor. You guys rock!

 

[isseym328]

Any updates on this coral? Wondering if you guys were able to keep the coral healthy w/o feedings or you guys been target feeding. Thanks!

 

[PSam]

Another one was up and gone in minutes this afternoon. What an awesome coral. I've always like Oculina. Hope to see more of these.

 

[isseym328]

What other types are there? The one posted in this thread is pretty cool looking.

 

[rowjimmy]

Another one was up and gone in minutes this afternoon. What an awesome coral. I've always like Oculina. Hope to see more of these.

I saw that one too. It was listed as a *photosynthetic* coral this time around in the description/care page. It looks just the same as the other two that were offered before it that were sold as *non-photosynthetic*.

ninja did you get the specimen OK? Any pics/comments/observations you care to share with this new coral since you've had it? I'm curious too.

 

[PSam]

I noticed that. Maybe based on Kevin's observations over the past few days (since his post a couple posts up), something came to light that makes him think it's photosynthetic?

 

[aninjaatemyshoe]

Yeah, I got the coral and it is in great shape. I don't have any pics yet, but I'll take some as soon as I can borrow a camera. I still need to get one of my own digital cameras. That'll probably be next year.

I think it is photosynthetic. Luckily, I have a good spotlight in my tank, so I'll be able to keep it in the well-lit region. It seems to take cyclops pretty readily.

 

[DFS]

Greetings,

I am very excited about these new corals as well, and was able to obtain some more information on their husbandry and requirements.

After a lengthy conversation with Julian Sprung, he informed me that these corals are primarily zooxanthellate, but in lower lighting conditions like some other Oculinidae, they can be considered more of an azooxanthellate coral obtaining most if not all of their nutrition from capturing food.

For this reason we have changed the requirements of these West African endemics to reflect these findings, by explaining they require moderate light but also benefit from target feeding.

My testing is still in the infant stages, and I think it will take at least 6 weeks or more before any real info can be concluded from observation, and looking at their overall health and appearance.

Cheers!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thank you Kevin and Julian

 

[GreshamH]

Shoot I'll need to move mine out from under the rack then. It arrived in great condition and opened up within minutes of entering my tank. Mines getting the same feeding as the rest of my tank, Oyster-Feast/Roti-Feast/Arcti-Pods. I tend to over feed, and only broadcast feed so it should be just fine in my tank