Mystery Anenome; not Apastasia

[TommyD]

Hi all;

Just got finished shooting pix of my tank; I've had this since it was a speck.

Anyone know what it is??

 

[Anonymous]

Need a much clearer picture, but I would say it's a species of Anemonia, unfortunately a pest.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[wade1]

I disagree... it looks like a palythoa polyp to me. I have a few of them, they can capture food much like an anemone, but they are not anemones. Frilly, tiny tentacles on the border of a larger head...

I'm voting palythoa.

Wade

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not a coral guy but if I recall Palythoa sp. are colonial aren't they? This is only one.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[wade1]

There are solitary species (as in not connected by a mat). I have a few of them in my tank. They tend to act like zoanthids and colonial species in that they split, but they move apart slightly. They can appear to be in a cluster, but IIRC they are not truly mats.

They are a type of polyp, even if I have the species wrong (my brain is dead from grad school... anyone got jumper cables?).

 

[Fatal Morgana]

It looks like there are several rounds of tenticles, and that mouth reminds me of a plate coral, which is a hard coral. I think both David and Wade are wrong on this ID.

Fan water at it with your hand, and you may be able to see it withdraw into the skeleton (cf close up like mushroom polyp). That should confirm my guess.

 

[TommyD]

I'll test tonight; maybe try a different angle and take another pic.

I don't think the base is hard though You're thinking like a bubble coral skeleton right? Like a little ridgy thing that is it attached to?

I'll let ya know....

BTW; it's about the size of a quarter for size reference.

 

[Fatal Morgana]

Yes, it is like bubble coral's skeleton. Baby plate coral is common hitchhiker on quality live rock.

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

looks like a baby fungia!

 

[SnowManSnow]

<--- Thinks it s a plate coral. Check out J. Sprung.. "The Reef Aquarium" vol 1 pg. 434

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

*SAME THING*

 

[Anonymous]

With all due respect to FM, that is not a Fungiid coral, unless it's somehow levitating off the substrate.

Does it have a 'stem' like a plant?

 

[UnderwaterExotic]

If you would do some reading about corals you would find out thats how plate corals grow.. After they mature they fall off to the bottom and thats where you get your plate from!

 

[Anonymous]

Your post made me laugh...I think I've read more about corals than any human should be allowed to I wasn't aware that the juveniles were raised off the substrate as much as that one appears to be.

It still doesn't look at all like a plate coral to me, but I could be wrong. If the original poster could tell us if it has a hard skeleton or not we could clear it up.

 

[John_Brandt]

It looks like there are several rounds of tenticles, and that mouth reminds me of a plate coral, which is a hard coral. I think both David and Wade are wrong on this ID.

Fan water at it with your hand, and you may be able to see it withdraw into the skeleton (cf close up like mushroom polyp). That should confirm my guess.

I agree. I noticed the additional tentacles right away. Colonial anemones (Palythoa, Protopalythoa, Zoanthus, etc.) generally have the tentacles only on the perimeter of the oral disc.

I think this is a Fungiid coral.

 

[TommyD]

Okay all; finally got some good Pix:

 

[TommyD]

Side view of a smaller one through the Xenia Forest:

 

[TommyD]

Top view of the larger one as it usually is

 

[TommyD]

Filename says it all.

So to answer the question; yes it does have a skeleton like a bubble coral/plate coral...

 

[Anonymous]

Well I looked all over but there are no emoticons with a foot in a mouth.

That's an awesome hitchhiker!