Scolymia Vs Acan Maxima?

[Guygettnby]

i got a coral from a buddy of mine and i am trying to figure out if it is a small scolymia or a acan maxima. it is only about 2" round and attached to a piece of live rock. i have been doing some reading on them but am still abit confused as to wich this coral would fall under. it seems to like were it is at now but i will be putting it in a different tank pretty soon. wanna make sure i care for it properly.

on the left are some acans wich look different to me then all other acans i have seen and the coral in question is to the right.

if anybody actually knows what the coral is please post up. if you happen to know what kind of acan the other small colony is please let me know that aswell.

 

[Flems]

Looks to me like a scoly.

 

[gofor100]

+1 on scoly... either way though, the care requirements for a scoly and an acan are similar (both like to be fed regularly).

One way to figure out if it is a scoly (vs. an acan) is its feeding response. When you feed a scoly, it will transform into a body of longer tentacles and engulf the food, whereas an acan usually closes up on the prey item (just my experience though).

Either way, it looks like a nice get.

 

[Guygettnby]

i will have to pay attention the next time i feed it. i never really payed attention to how it ate before. i looked around some more to try and find more info and did not find anything that helped on how to id the coral.

 

[gofor100]

Here's an example of what a typical scoly will look like when eating or one wanting to eat (even though I think this is actually a "meat coral", they both have similar looks when their feeding tentacles are out and reveal their white "mouth"). Look for the white center that looks like small white rows (kind of like lips).

Some scolys will have a larger feeding response... for instance, my bleeding apply has about 2 inch long tentacles out to engulf its prey, whereas some of my other Aussie scolys will just look like the scoly I posted.

 

[klepto]

Your acan colony (on the left) looks like an Acanthastrea lordhowensis to me. In your pictures they have very nice extension- is that why you said they look different than other acans that you have seen?

As for the coral in question.. it looks to me like a Scolymia australis. Honestly that is little more than a guess. Trying to identify a coral by it's feeding response is not a reliable method (to my knowledge at least). I have a trachy that has a very similar looking feeding response to the image Gofor posted above. The best way is to examine the skeleton. (obviously that is difficult with LPS that have large corallites and fleshy tissue) You could try to measure the size of the corallite to help give your efforts in the id.

Out of curiosity, does it always display those tentacles? or were the images taken after feeding?

 

[gofor100]

Agreed, you can't solely rely on the feeding response... but it can be one characteristic to look out for.

But like I said before, at least you're dealing with two coral types that have similar care requirements (scoly vs. acans). I say, wait several weeks, and if it is budding little babies along its base, then it is probably an acan of some sort. If not, its either a slowly growing acan, or a scoly. Either way... great looking coral.

Good luck!

 

[dan10342]

Scolymia australis is the single one.

Acanthastrea Lordhowensis is the colony

(like ppl above said)


A friend of mine has a tiny scolymia, that is green, and it looks identical in shape and form as the red one pictured above.

 

[victor escobar]

We have had this coral (the big solitary one) coming to the shops from Australia recently. I know there are confusions on how to name it. If you look in the net acan bowerbanki there is something simalar. Maybe it is a mistake but look please

 

[victor escobar]

excuse me "blastomussa bowerbanki" or acan maxima but acan maxima is only coming from Oman

 

[Guygettnby]

Your acan colony (on the left) looks like an Acanthastrea lordhowensis to me. In your pictures they have very nice extension- is that why you said they look different than other acans that you have seen?

As for the coral in question.. it looks to me like a Scolymia australis. Honestly that is little more than a guess. Trying to identify a coral by it's feeding response is not a reliable method (to my knowledge at least). I have a trachy that has a very similar looking feeding response to the image Gofor posted above. The best way is to examine the skeleton. (obviously that is difficult with LPS that have large corallites and fleshy tissue) You could try to measure the size of the corallite to help give your efforts in the id.

Out of curiosity, does it always display those tentacles? or were the images taken after feeding?

usualy when i see acans they look very compact and almost squished against each other. not being in a circle and looking like these do. maybe they are just not really grown in together tight enough yet.

as far as the coral in question it shows some tentacles about 30-40% of the time but never really open unless it is night time or i am feeding the tank. the acans on the left almost always show tentacles and seem to always be hungry.

 

[Guygettnby]

Agreed, you can't solely rely on the feeding response... but it can be one characteristic to look out for.

But like I said before, at least you're dealing with two coral types that have similar care requirements (scoly vs. acans). I say, wait several weeks, and if it is budding little babies along its base, then it is probably an acan of some sort. If not, its either a slowly growing acan, or a scoly. Either way... great looking coral.

Good luck!

this coral has stayed this way for atleast over a year. i got it from a friend and it didnt grow much at all in his tank. i have had it for a few weeks now and it has stayed the same besides puffing up abit more. i do not think it will sprout babies as it has not yet done so in over a year.

 

[Guygettnby]

excuse me "blastomussa bowerbanki" or acan maxima but acan maxima is only coming from Oman

thanks for that info, it was helpful. it still will be pretty impossible for me to ID this coral as one of those until it dies though. looks alot like all three to be honest so now i have a possible 3 ID's.... hmm

they all seem to have the same needs in the aquarium though so i should be safe to assume it will survive in my tank or in the new tank setup. it would be awesome if it did end up sprouting another head some random place as this coral is really cool.

 

[mattliu]

That's what i'm thinking as far as acan maximas.

Charlie Veron is from australia and he makes no mention of any distribution of it coming from australia waters, just areas near oman.

They're just scolys marketed as acan maxima to drum up the price.

 

[klepto]

usualy when i see acans they look very compact and almost squished against each other. not being in a circle and looking like these do. maybe they are just not really grown in together tight enough yet.

as far as the coral in question it shows some tentacles about 30-40% of the time but never really open unless it is night time or i am feeding the tank. the acans on the left almost always show tentacles and seem to always be hungry.

I think there will be variations with the polyps' appearance among the same species, just like there are different sized corallites among the Acanthastrea genus itself. (8mm-15mm diameter)
Different lighting, flow and other conditions can have a large impact on how the polyps appear.
I also have noticed that some lordhowensis grow in very close to each other and others are more spread out and extended (like your colony). Perhaps it also has to do with Indo vs Aus sourcing and the lighting that individual was collected at..

 

[Guygettnby]

I think there will be variations with the polyps' appearance among the same species, just like there are different sized corallites among the Acanthastrea genus itself. (8mm-15mm diameter)
Different lighting, flow and other conditions can have a large impact on how the polyps appear.
I also have noticed that some lordhowensis grow in very close to each other and others are more spread out and extended (like your colony). Perhaps it also has to do with Indo vs Aus sourcing and the lighting that individual was collected at..

that could be very true. this was the first acan i had ever bought and the only one that ended up staying alive. all the others withered away. i was always more of a zoanthid guy in the past.

 

[palyam]

The right one is Acan Maxima, the left one is Micromussa. I have both of them

 

[DeepReefExotics]

Looks like an Acan Maxima to me.