looking for instances of this sps hybrid

[treesprite]

Hi All,

I have been communicating with Steve Tyree (and Bob Fenner via Wet Web Media) about my Tyree LE Idaho Grape Monti, since tiny pieces of it started growing green polyps, after I had scraped and chipped the IG monti off of my liverock to clear real estate (hence open wounds allowing opportunity for foreign DNA to get in).

The conjecture is, that this may well be a unique coral, and that these green polyps are arising out of hybridization with green pocillopora.

I am trying to find other instances of this naturally occurring hybrid, to determine rarity and to compare notes with anyone who has witnessed this hybridization of these two specific corals.

The first coral is a Tyree LE Idaho Grape Montipora Undata. My frag came from John Coppolino who got his parent from Reeffarmers when the coral was first distributed.

The second is (suspected) to be green pocillopora. This is such a common coral that I can't get more specific. I got frags from 2 different WAMAS members, so I am not sure which of them would have been the source of the DNA, and do not know the ancestry.

Please provide information! Thank you!

 

[Ben1]

Why would it just take on green polyps though?

I know there has been cases of corals taking on new pigments like Garrett's Acropora divaricata that took on green blotches but they seem to effect the whole coral at random and not just polyps. Another example is Tyree's A. simplex, but again it is blotchy. Tyree claims the A. simplex had come into contact with a green "pocilloporidae coral", causing the tissue to take on the green pigments.

Do you have a pic to share? What lighting are you running?

 

[treesprite]

I had posted on a lot of different forums to gather information... here are some of my responses to people's replies:

A lot of people are referring to a montipora capricornis that is purple with green polyps - Idaho grape is an undata species, not capricornis.

For Clarification:
I used the word hybrid as a general term, not restricted to the combination being genetic (didn't realize that in this field, it is restricted to genetics). There is uncertainty as to just how these two corals got combined. I apologize for the bad terminology!

Grafting is, to the best of my knowledge, when two different corals which, through the lack of aggression, blend together to create a chimera. What I have is a coral with the characteristics of two different species, giving the impression of something that is neither one of them. My coral's new growth areas do not have the tiny lavender polyps of the Idaho grape monti, they have polyps that appear identical to the larger fluorescing green polyps of pocillopora. If it was only the color of the polyps that are different, or only the size, or if these polyps were not growing synchronously with, and on, the monti's new growth areas in absence of the polyps that one would expect, I would have a different view. A free-floating polyp can graft to another species, but if new coral growth comes from them, it would be the same coral as the polyp came from, which would presumably create a chimera.

The new growth areas are describes above - it has the characteristics of two different corals to look like a third. I have read of this happening in nature, as a matter of genetics.

Idaho grape is undata species, not capricornis. It seems a lot of people make that mistake.

My pieces are very tiny, as they are bits that were chipped and scraped off of my main rock structure when I was trying to clear real estate after removing a colony. I have pictures, but they aren't great due to the size of the pieces and a camera that is only 10 megapixels. I'll send updated pictures to Steve when there has been more growth, or when someone with a better camera can take pictures for me, so I can get some more feedback from him.

 

[Anonymous]

Could be a lot of things from GFP 'infection' to two corals sharing the same space. Macro photos would help.

 

[Anonymous]

GFP is my first thought as well, especially since the pocillipora was mentioned.

However that's all I'll say, as I'll admit that I'm not an expert nor very experienced in GFP "infections"

 

[treesprite]

I just wish I could find some information. I have posted on 8 forums and researched until my brain is mush, and still can't find anything similar to this. I have learned a lot about pigmentation, proteins, zooxanthellae, and light energy, which is very interesting and would be a great subject to research if it weren't for the fact that I am looking for something else.

 

[Anonymous]

If you could give some better info/pictures we could help more.

 

[treesprite]

Here are some pictures. They aren't very good, but good enough to distinguish the polyps. The chip of coral on the frag plug is only 3/8" - they are all very small. The green polyps are very bright green in person, but I was having to hold the coral up and the light wasn't right. Also, the polyps on the single chip are not extended... the polyps on the picture that has a bunch of chips on a rock, are extended so you can see the size difference.

Compare normal polyps in main area of coral chip, to the weird polyps in the new growth area around the edges. The color is washed out... as already stated, the polyps are very bright green in person.

Green polyp up close (it's bright green in person, and it isn't fully extended due to m handling it - in person it looks more like a poci polyp, though there's no way to know for certain what kind of polyps they are)

Several chips on a small rock. Some of the weird polyps are circled. This pic you can see the obvious size difference of the polyps when extended (more than on the single chip in the other pictures). Also, this shows that multiple pieces are affected, it's not a matter of a single coral piece touching something else.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Without better macro shots, its going to be hard to tell anything. If you feel like shipping a piece out, I can take the shots for your. Other than that, my first instinct would be to go with occams razor and say they are just aberrant polyps or growing edge polyps that are different from non growing edge polyps, and I think I have seen something similar with my undata over the years, but as I say, better evidence would help.