Coral ID

[JasonE]

I have a feeling it may be closer to a Goniopora laverne, At least without being able to see the skeleton.
Something lik G. stutchburyi

 

[prattreef]

I knew you'd chime in here. Goni? You think so???

 

[JasonE]

It's tricky, the skeleton looks thin and encrusting, the polyps are very close together, they seem to have little balls on the tip of the tentacles which you often see on gonis.
I'd rule out T peltata for sure.

 

[prattreef]

Agree on the T. peltata, but the polyps look very Turbinaria to me. But, I have learned, many times when in doubt defer to Jason on these matters

 

[DevIouS]

:wow:


I thought Stutchburyi was only red

Goniopora stutchburyi

 

[DevIouS]

 

[JasonE]

Jeez, don't defer to me:bigeyes:...I'm just not convinced it's a turbinaria sp. Unfortunately, unless we see some skeleton we're pretty much guessing.
Probably not stutchburyi (describes tapered ends to tentacles), this one definitely isn't tapered at the end. Judging by the size of the polyps versus the cabbage on the right, I'd expect the corallites to be no more that 2mm across.

 

[KathyC]

I still think it's probably T. Patula..but am equally happy to call it T. laverne...lol

Does it produce a lot of mucus when you touch the coral?

 

[OctaviousMonk]

I think we have a winner!!!
Goniopora stutchburyi:
Characters: Colonies are submassive to encrusting. Calices are small and shallow, giving colonies a smooth surface. Polyps have short tapered tentacles which may not be extended during the day. Colour: Usually pale brown or cream, sometimes with pale blue mouths. Similar species: None, but could be confused with Porites. Habitat: Shallow reef environments. Abundance: Uncommon.

http://www2.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/html/201-300/Species%20pages/207.htm

The key to identifying this coral as a Goniopora is the fact that there are 24 tentacles per polyp.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Just call it LE Laverne GSP and sell it for 3 times the value :lol2:

 

[OctaviousMonk]

Speaking of Goniopora this guys page is a good read and pretty funny.
Check it out: http://archiv.korallenriff.de/Sindelfingen2006/Germany-neu2.pdf