best guess

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Snappy

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Joined
Jan 31, 2007
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328
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
My guess for this piece is Acropora Desalwii. (Veron <Corals of the world> pgs 370/371)Maybe even A granulosa? Anybody out there have any better guesses? Kevin? Sue? Any of you other coral experts?

I have been trying to create an inventory of my sps and this is one I'm stuck on. Any educated guess work would be appreciated.

24cr_table_1-1.jpg

I know it was aquacultured in Indonesia. Growth pattern is it encrusts with a bright green edge that turns purple and then tables out like in the picture.
Thanks,
 
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Greg, I'm sure it isn't desalwii. Not sure it's a granulosa either. Does it grow flat?? It could be either an A. solitaryensis or efflorescence. Both grow in a flat fashion and have usually a very colorful rim. I have Tyree's LE solitaryensis and mine is growing extremely fast and does have the purple rim. I have had them grow out flat and then develop upwards nodules/branches but this coral, if it's what it is, the branches do not grow much in height.
 
Here's a couple to look at:
A. orbicularis and A. anthocercis. If you look at the 5x magnification of the skeleton they look very similar (Veron Corals Of the World). Removing the tissue of a frag would be helpful for identification.
A picture from the underside would be helpful to see the branch structure.

Regards,
Kevin
 
Ok here is a shot of the underside, straight on from the front and the last one is what the coral looked like a year ago. It almost died and has only come back showing signs of life and growing since Dec.06.

table_1-1_underside.jpg


table_1-1_front_edge.jpg


1 year ago when it was starting to table out before it almost died. (my old lighting was 14k so it looks blue)
table_March_06_1-1.jpg

Thanks,
 
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I take it back about the soli and efflo now seeing the growth on the top of the coral. What a difference.. LOL. Greg, you keep showing pics like this and I will have to make a trip. LOL. That is a gorgeous coral.
 
I take it back about the soli and efflo now seeing the growth on the top of the coral. What a difference.. LOL. Greg, you keep showing pics like this and I will have to make a trip. LOL. That is a gorgeous coral.
Thanks Sue, so now we've ruled those out, what the heck is it? Come on up and I'll get you a frag of all the acros you can positively id.:)
The growth formations have sure changed since last year huh? I haven't had a chance to look up Kevin's suggestions. I'll do that tonight.
Thanks again,
 
the growth is crazy different. Years ago I had an A. anthocercis, like Kevin suggested but I don't remember it plating like this. I lost it in my 180g tank crash. :( Hey I need you to Pm me that link you sent. The canadian reef one. Silly me lost it.
 
After cutting off a dead piece, although a little worn with time, and study of the table style acro's in Veron's "Corals of the world", the closest match I can find is A. Willisae, although with that said, I really do think that this was aquacultured in Bali (or there abouts) and Veron says A willisae is only common in Australia. So I guess it lowers the probability of that possibility, but until proved wrong I'm saying it's A Willisae. I personally think Veron may have missed a few species here & there.:eek: :confused:
 
I think its an Efflo with strange growth style. Ive looked in veron and cant find anything that would resemble it but efflo. Not even willisae.
 
I think its an Efflo with strange growth style. Ive looked in veron and cant find anything that would resemble it but efflo. Not even willisae.

Thanks wentreefgirl, I appreciate your input. The reason I went with Willisae was from a piece of bare skeleton. Looking at it under a magnifying glass Willisae was the closest match I could find. The efflo didn't appear to be a very close match. I am still at a loss. It is hard to tell from a picture but this thing in real life looks a lot like the coral in pic #5 in Veron's book on page 366 vol 1. That said, I know my pictures of it don't look like that so I don't really know.
 
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Greg, see ya'll made me go get my COTW book out. I agree with you. Your coral has closely spaced upwards growing branches and A. efflorescens doesn't. It's upwards growing branches are very far apart. That also includes any that I have had now or in the past. When looking at the A. willisae it does appear much more closely related. I also think that pic #2 looks a lot like your coral too as well as the 5th pic too. If you did check it out under a microscope then you should of seen a lot we couldn't. Kevin's idea of A. obcularis looks kind of close too and he's seen way more than us all put together.
 
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Greg, see ya'll made me go get my COTW book out. I agree with you. Your coral has closely spaced upwards growing branches and A. efflorescens doesn't. It's upwards growing branches are very far apart. That also includes any that I have had now or in the past. When looking at the A. willisae it does appear much more closely related. I also think that pic #2 looks a lot like your coral too as well as the 5th pic too. If you did check it out under a microscope then you should of seen a lot we couldn't. Kevin's idea of A. obcularis looks kind of close too and he's seen way more than us all put together.

Unless I am doing something wrong on my end I find it hard to upload my pictures on these boards without extremely lowering the quality of the photo so some of the detail that is in the original photo doesn't come through. That doesn't help with id's either.
Thanks Sue. Sounds like you got your exercise for the day pulling that book out. They only weigh about 50lbs each. :rolleyes:
 

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