ID Please

[Andrea1]

Is this a Hydnophora rigida? or which Hydnophora?
We were told it was a staghorn by the LFS, but research says it is not. Just can not pin point which H. it is...
Thank you,
Andrea

 

[Anonymous]

Looks more like Hydnophora grandis to me, but not sure. Have a look at this site to see if you can spot which one you've got.

http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/coralid_search.php

 

[Andrea1]

So hard to tell. I have searched the internet for hours. In regards to the web sight above, it looks most similar to the pilosa, but when I searched other sights and I searched a lot, it looks most like a rigida. Here is a picture of a rigida that looks most like it.

 

[ChrisRD]

In many cases it's impossible to ID corals down to the species level without dissecting them.

 

[Andrea1]

Okay. but I still want to know which Hydnophora this is... On one sight it will look like ____ on another it will look like____. I will continue to search and post it here.
Thanks
Andrea

 

[romunov]

Andrea, read it slowly:

In many cases it's impossible to ID corals down to the species level without dissecting them.

In short:
You would have to cut a piece of skeleton, soak it in various chemicals to kill and clean the animal (to expose the skeleton). They, you will need a dissection microscope - $1000 one or better. Oh, you'll also need a reference (books, articles) and be familiar with most scientific names for every little bit of the skeleton. Most corals can be identified (species) only by experts with a lot of experience and huge reference libraries.

Ready?

 

[Anonymous]

Andrea, read it slowly:

In many cases it's impossible to ID corals down to the species level without dissecting them.

In short:
You would have to cut a piece of skeleton, soak it in various chemicals to kill and clean the animal (to expose the skeleton). They, you will need a dissection microscope - $1000 one or better. Oh, you'll also need a reference (books, articles) and be familiar with most scientific names for every little bit of the skeleton. Most corals can be identified (species) only by experts with a lot of experience and huge reference libraries.

Ready?

Even knowing this doesn't stop most of us trying to guess....

It's half the fun, I think...

 

[Andrea1]

So no one has any idea what kind of Hydnophora this is?

 

[Anonymous]

I have no idea, I would just call it a branching Hydnophora myself.

 

[Andrea1]

Yeah I think you're right. Thanks Laura!!!!