[fishgeeksrus]

I bought this today and failed to ask the guy what this is. It has only been in the tank for about 30 mins.

[Poseidon]

Looks like a Milliopora or a "tort" to me. But then I am just a newbie in the world of SPS. What ever it is it sure is COOL!

[fishgeeksrus]

Thanks, it has an awesome color. The polyps are yellow. I also bought another frag with this one. The guy said that it looks like a green slimer but thought that it might be some other kind. I cannot remember what he called it. But it was pretty cool too!I can't ever remember the names with these things. ugh!

[stang69]

Not sure what it is but looks SWEET!!!


Nice encrusting also


Jeff



Gawd we sound like we are looking at porn hehhehe

[fishgeeksrus]

we're going to place another pic on later today, once the lights come back on and the polyps are out.

Oh BTW, We almost forgot...... we only paid $20!

BONUS!!!!

[Ninong]

I think it might be Acropora cerealis.

Here is a representative picture that I believe is correctly identified: http://www.reefermadness.us/A_Bushy.htm

[Poseidon]

Man Ninong has ALL the LINKS!!! Awesome site, thanks for the info!!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Man Ninong has ALL the LINKS!!! Awesome site, thanks for the info!!

Mike,

Please be aware that Acropora species corals are misidentified more often than not on vendor's websites. It just so happens that I looked up this species http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch...ge/16BW-01.jpg in Corals of the World first before searching for a representative picture online. The picture on the Reefer Madness website just happens to be a similar coloration to the unidentified frag in question but that is not definitive.

Again, I am just guessing that it is A. cerealis. It might also be A. tenuis but I think it is more likely A. cerealis. I'm ruling out A. tortuosa due to the polyps being a different color. All of the tort frags that I have seen are blue with blue polyps.

[fishgeeksrus]

Wow after looking at the picture on the link, I would have to say that you are correct. It looks exactly like the picture. Here is another frag that we bought the same day. It looks yellow under our lights but it was a bright green under the guys lights that we bought it from. He said that he wasn't sure if it was a green slimer but he was hoping that it wasn't. He was hoping that it was of a more rare table form. But he did not say exactly what it was.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

Wow after looking at the picture on the link, I would have to say that you are correct. It looks exactly like the picture. Here is another frag that we bought the same day. It looks yellow under our lights but it was a bright green under the guys lights that we bought it from. He said that he wasn't sure if it was a green slimer but he was hoping that it wasn't. He was hoping that it was of a more rare table form. But he did not say exactly what it was.

Well, he can continue to hope becouse that appears to be the a A.yongei aka green slimer. Should be easy to tell by taking it out of the water for few seconds..you'll understand why they call it a slimer

[Reefland]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Well, he can continue to hope becouse that appears to be the a A.yongei aka green slimer. Should be easy to tell by taking it out of the water for few seconds..you'll understand why they call it a slimer

Yup, looks like a slimer to me too! LOL

[fishgeeksrus]

Ok good, at least I know what to call these now. I paid $20.00 for this one also. Is this a good deal? We will be transferring both of these to the new tank hopefully within a couple more months.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

Ok good, at least I know what to call these now. I paid $20.00 for this one also. Is this a good deal? We will be transferring both of these to the new tank hopefully within a couple more months.

I think you got a great deal,especially since you didn't have to pay shipping.
Place that slimer in a good light and flow and watch it take off...so give it plenty of room to grow out.Remember, this is a staghorn variety Acropora so it will need lots of room above and latterally to grow nice and tall

[fishgeeksrus]

Will do! Thanks a lot for all of the info guys.

[SueT]

I thought that frag looked familar. The first pic.. I knew it wasn't the A. lokani as suggested by another. A. cerealis sounds right to me too plus visually it looks right on. For sure on the A. yongie, that is of the stag variety of acropora. Nice one too.

[kevinpo]

I think the first one is A. cerealis too. Here is a picture of one of mine. It has been a slow grower and rather sensative.

Regards,
Kevin

[zhenya]

Nice picture,Kevin. When you say sensative, what exactly do you mean? Water conditions or lighting?

On a side note, I have a colony that appears to look similar but after closely inspecting your picture I'm almost positive that mine is not A.cerealis. I took some close ups of the corallites yesterday after reading a thread on RC about this particular coral and today, after you posted your picture, I have to say that lots of the pics on that thread were not A.cerealis at all
Here's one of the close up shot of the corallites.

[kevinpo]

Gene,
Both. It can turn brown in a heartbeat and needs high flow. It also requires high light. It RTN's easy. They form a pillow type growth and have thicker branches in high flow.
Yous looks to me to be A. nana which has longer main branches and grows into more of a bush type coral (IME).

Regards,
Kevin

[kevinpo]

Gene,
Notice how the corallites point up and stay close to the main branches? That is a characteristic of A. nana. I'm not saying that is what it is Just my guess. Look on pg. 354 Veron.

Regards,
Kevin

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by kevinpo

Gene,
Notice how the corallites point up and stay close to the main branches? That is a characteristic of A. nana. I'm not saying that is what it is Just my guess. Look on pg. 354 Veron.

Regards,
Kevin

Appressed radial corallites are common to both of those species, A. nana and A. cerealis, as well as several other species of Acropora, such as A. valida, A. variabilis, A. lianae, etc.

If you look on pages 402-403, Veron has 8 different pictures of A. cerealis (not counting the picture of the skeleton). Notice that pictures 2 and 4 are quite different in appearance from pictures 7 and 8, yet I'm sure Charlie is positive that they are all A. cerealis.

You probably have to be able to identify ALL of the characters common to A. cerealis to be reasonably sure of the identification:

• Colonies are caespitose or corymbose.
• Composed of branches which interlock in three dimensions.
• Branches are thin with most of their width occupied by the corallites.
• Axial corallites are tubular.
• Radial corallites are tubular and appressed, becoming nariform and conspicuous towards the tips of branches giving colonies a spiny appearance.

Glossary:

appressed corallites: corallites which are fused (partly or completely) with the coenosteum on one side so that their axis is approximately parallel with the coenosteum.

caespitose: a descriptive term for branches which interlock similarly in three dimensions.

corymbose: a descriptive term for colonies which have horizontal interlocking branches and have short upright branchlets.

nariform: a radial corallite shaped like an upside down "Roman" nose.

P.S. -- And it goes without saying that after several generations in captivity many corals are difficult to recognize they are so different from their original wild forms.