Species level identification in soft corals is, for all but a handful of species, impossible in a living coral, without consideration of sclerites in all areas where they are found (polyps differ from trunk, etc.) by high powered microscopy (likley SEM), some sort of molecular markers, or other very complicated tasks. In order to even begin to identify soft corals, even to genus level for most cases, one must answer the following questions:
Is the colony monomorphic or dimorphic?
Do the polyps have anthosteles?
Is there a capitulum (polyp bearing surface)?
Are polyps found all overthe colony, or in areas?
Are they on primary stalks, secondary branches, tertiary branches, or terminal branches only?
Are they clustered at the end in catkins?
Do the polyps withdraw completely into the tissue?
Or do they contract/shrink/fold up but not withdraw (pull back)?
Or do they do nothing?
Is there a daytime/nightime contaction behavior of the colony?
Is the colony branching, lumpy, encrusting, stalked, etc.?
Are there sclerites visible?
If so, do they project through the tissue? How about at the polyps?
Are they colored?
What color is the colony?
Is the colony stiff and firm or soft and flaccid (no jokes, please)?
Is the colony smooth or rough?
Is the colony dry feeling or slippery feeling?
How old is the colony? Is it full grown or still growing?
Does it have stolons?
How does it grow? By length, mass, creeping, budding, etc.?
Does it produce asexual daughter colonies and how?
There are more questions, but this is a basic modicum of information that should accompany any question seeking to identify a soft coral in this forum. Other questions can be asked as follow-ups to these answers.
Photos are helpful, but should include a photo of the whole colony, a photo of the colony "closed" or withdrawn, and a close-up of the colony with all the polyps withdrawn.
Also, any collection/import information can be extremely helpful, if known.
It is a disservice to any identification request to simply post a photo of a coral from afar and name its color or other trivial information and expect a legitimate answer. I hope this post, which I have placed permanently at the top of the forum, is helpful to those with such requests.
If you cannot answer the questions above, feel free to ask me for clarification of terms. If you still cannot answer them, I'm afraid I cannot answer the question you ask, either. To do so, in almost all cases, would be about as accurate as closing one's eyes, flipping to a page in a soft coral book, and choosing with a dart thrown at the page.
For more information, see my article at http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/eb/index.htm
For a good resource, see:
Fabricius, Katharina and Phil Alderslade. 2001. Soft Corals and Sea Fans. AIMS, Townsville, 264 pp.
Is the colony monomorphic or dimorphic?
Do the polyps have anthosteles?
Is there a capitulum (polyp bearing surface)?
Are polyps found all overthe colony, or in areas?
Are they on primary stalks, secondary branches, tertiary branches, or terminal branches only?
Are they clustered at the end in catkins?
Do the polyps withdraw completely into the tissue?
Or do they contract/shrink/fold up but not withdraw (pull back)?
Or do they do nothing?
Is there a daytime/nightime contaction behavior of the colony?
Is the colony branching, lumpy, encrusting, stalked, etc.?
Are there sclerites visible?
If so, do they project through the tissue? How about at the polyps?
Are they colored?
What color is the colony?
Is the colony stiff and firm or soft and flaccid (no jokes, please)?
Is the colony smooth or rough?
Is the colony dry feeling or slippery feeling?
How old is the colony? Is it full grown or still growing?
Does it have stolons?
How does it grow? By length, mass, creeping, budding, etc.?
Does it produce asexual daughter colonies and how?
There are more questions, but this is a basic modicum of information that should accompany any question seeking to identify a soft coral in this forum. Other questions can be asked as follow-ups to these answers.
Photos are helpful, but should include a photo of the whole colony, a photo of the colony "closed" or withdrawn, and a close-up of the colony with all the polyps withdrawn.
Also, any collection/import information can be extremely helpful, if known.
It is a disservice to any identification request to simply post a photo of a coral from afar and name its color or other trivial information and expect a legitimate answer. I hope this post, which I have placed permanently at the top of the forum, is helpful to those with such requests.
If you cannot answer the questions above, feel free to ask me for clarification of terms. If you still cannot answer them, I'm afraid I cannot answer the question you ask, either. To do so, in almost all cases, would be about as accurate as closing one's eyes, flipping to a page in a soft coral book, and choosing with a dart thrown at the page.
For more information, see my article at http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/eb/index.htm
For a good resource, see:
Fabricius, Katharina and Phil Alderslade. 2001. Soft Corals and Sea Fans. AIMS, Townsville, 264 pp.
