Coral Identification - Educating one's self about corals biology

[calming-creatio]

Hello:

This post is targeted at Anthony Calfo, but anyone else with ideas that would also be appreciated.

I have been involved in saltwater hobby for about 3 years now. I have discovered over the last few months that my interest is in corals. I would like to look as much as I can about the different types of corals. I have some in my home nano that I would like to first identify, but am looking for any suggestions on how I can go about identifying those myself as that is howw I wish to educate myself.

I would like to start with coral biology such as shape and other identifiers then move onto other characteristics such as color and feeding. I'm looking for suggestions of where I can educate myself on the web first then move onto books, finally the possibility of taking some online or correspondence classes. Thanks.

Joseph Petry
Owner & Marine Aquarist
Calming Creations

 

[NaH2O]

I would say probably one of the best resources is the book series Corals of the World, by JEN Veron. The first volume has tons of information on coral and skeletal structures (which you need to really understand for true identification), colony formation, as well as different types of reefs and geological history. The rest of the first volume and the other volumes are full of every coral imaginable plus more! . It's pricey, but worth it, IMO.

As for online identification, I think the best resource available is the Coral Search/AIMS data center. There you can put in the information you know and it will give you possible matches. When you click on the coral name, it will take you to a page that has pictures/information from the Veron books.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[91YOTA]

another site i have found helpful is http://www.coralsee.org/

you answer questions about your coral and it narrows down the possibilities until you find a match... unfortunately it is only for acropora corals but is a very good resource... HTH

 

[Snowboarda42]

Holy crap Nikki, good find on the CoralSearch page

 

[Anthony Calfo]

in my fav links sticky, you'll see under recommended books two references that cover most hard (Veron) and soft (Fabricius and Alderslade) corals.

Some folks have written hobby friendly content on the matter (Cesnales' dichotomous key to soft corals... illustarted now and published in my first issue of volume 2 of C the Journal).

Sprung's quick references are really concise (albeit brief... though by design) and great for narrowing the field, so to speak.