Cali Kid Corals

Can anyone ID this SPS please?

Western_reefer

Western_reefer

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Can anyone ID this SPS please? Pictures were taken under 150 watt 14k DE Phoenix bulb.


24brcls.jpg


35n6jup.jpg
 
No. Most are pretty impossible to specifically id without a skelatal analysis. Wild corals that have distinct shapes and colorations will morph over time in captivity making a high level of difficulty in iding. I have an A Humilis that after a year in captivity looks nothing like what it once did due to captive flow patterns an lighting. That said there are several that have pretty distinct features that make them easier to peg. This one happens to be one of them.
 
So is the morph of your A. humilis completely unnatural or could be natural but just from somewhere else? Is there any kind of study by the "purists" to completley duplicate/maintain the original morphs?

-Gregory
 
Or on the flip side has anyone gotten artistic and tried to use currents and lighting to colour and sculpt interesting forms?

-Gregory
 
GDawson said:
So is the morph of your A. humilis completely unnatural or could be natural but just from somewhere else? Is there any kind of study by the "purists" to completley duplicate/maintain the original morphs?

-Gregory
Click to expand...

There is no "natural" form of any stony coral pretty much given they all change in any given condition. Not only that but genetically many corals labels as different species, and even genus, are being found to be the same now. A deep water Anacopora was recently found to really be an Acopora simply living so deep it found a way to adapt.
 
There is an excellent article in the new Reef Hobbiest Magazine that discusses coral growth patterns. The title is Modeling Coral Growth by Tim Wijgerdem of WWW.CORALSCIENCE.ORG

Here's the link for the mag.....

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/downloads/pdf/version19.pdf

-Gregory
 
Yes I know Tim quite well... notice the banners flying on his website (both Rn adn Azoox.org) :D
 
seminolecpa said:
No. Most are pretty impossible to specifically id without a skelatal analysis. Wild corals that have distinct shapes and colorations will morph over time in captivity making a high level of difficulty in iding. I have an A Humilis that after a year in captivity looks nothing like what it once did due to captive flow patterns an lighting. That said there are several that have pretty distinct features that make them easier to peg. This one happens to be one of them.
Click to expand...

As seminolecpa mentions, you really need to look at a bleached out skeleton. A great book for helping you identify acropora would be Corals of the World by JEN Vernon Volume 1.
 
It is helpful probably also the leading authority for armchair Id'ers (myself included). Very easy to make mistakes though based on a picture in a book and can lead to some of the worst id's as well. It does provide a "close enough for government work" ID though which i will take any day over the extra super duper space alien nipple ironman designer names.
 
Even true experts would scoff at a visual ID via pictures alone :D
 
purplereef said:
seminolecpa said:
No. Most are pretty impossible to specifically id without a skelatal analysis. Wild corals that have distinct shapes and colorations will morph over time in captivity making a high level of difficulty in iding. I have an A Humilis that after a year in captivity looks nothing like what it once did due to captive flow patterns an lighting. That said there are several that have pretty distinct features that make them easier to peg. This one happens to be one of them.
Click to expand...

As seminolecpa mentions, you really need to look at a bleached out skeleton. A great book for helping you identify acropora would be Corals of the World by JEN Vernon Volume 1.
Click to expand...

http://www.byoguides.com/ I think Thales has it. Tim did a great write up on it here: http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/taxonomy-2/coral-finder

For Acropora you can't beat Carden Wallace's "Staghorn corals of the World"
 
I do have it. Its good for genus. IDing down to species for acros is a huge butt pain and may not even be possible without serious analysis. There is also the genetic work being done that may well make us really rethink the idea of species.
 
Thales said:
There is also the genetic work being done that may well make us really rethink the idea of species.
Click to expand...

When the verdict is in I think we'll all look like a bunch of fools, the silly LE names will make just as much sense :D
 
Kindle edition 80 bucks, hard cover 200

http://www.amazon.com/Staghorn-Corals-World-Revision-ebook/dp/B0050FEJ7A/ref=rin_dp?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
 
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