BReefed
Well-known member
Around 4-5 months ago I purchased this coral:
It was supposed to be a ORA Cat's Paw, but the polyps look completely wrong for a stylophora. The reefer that sold it to me mentioned that he had this coral for years and that it had not grown a bit for him.
After taking it home it has underwent a bit of a metamorphosis. The polyps became almost bushy in density and it began to grow. That's right up to the time that I had a disaster with my tank chiller that caused part of this coral to be out of the water and exposed directly to my halide lighting. Those branches of the coral died, allowing me to confirm that it is indeed some kind of branching coral. I trimmed what I could of the exposed skeleton back and the flesh regrew over the exposed skeleton.
You can't tell from the picture, but it is also encrusting the base of the rock that it is on. I had to remove a large section of my rock in order to move it and reglue it recently due to an invading anemone.
It seems to like high flow, and the tentacle shaped polyps extend further under increased flow. This picture is taken a bit later at night after half of the tank lights are off. During the day it is very dense and bushy. Also, I should add that it has a metallic sheen on its bright green flesh, and the ends of the tentacles almost seem to light up.
It is a very strange little frag and I haven't ever seen another one like it. I'm hoping that some of the more experienced members here can help me figure out what it is.
It was supposed to be a ORA Cat's Paw, but the polyps look completely wrong for a stylophora. The reefer that sold it to me mentioned that he had this coral for years and that it had not grown a bit for him.
After taking it home it has underwent a bit of a metamorphosis. The polyps became almost bushy in density and it began to grow. That's right up to the time that I had a disaster with my tank chiller that caused part of this coral to be out of the water and exposed directly to my halide lighting. Those branches of the coral died, allowing me to confirm that it is indeed some kind of branching coral. I trimmed what I could of the exposed skeleton back and the flesh regrew over the exposed skeleton.
You can't tell from the picture, but it is also encrusting the base of the rock that it is on. I had to remove a large section of my rock in order to move it and reglue it recently due to an invading anemone.
It seems to like high flow, and the tentacle shaped polyps extend further under increased flow. This picture is taken a bit later at night after half of the tank lights are off. During the day it is very dense and bushy. Also, I should add that it has a metallic sheen on its bright green flesh, and the ends of the tentacles almost seem to light up.
It is a very strange little frag and I haven't ever seen another one like it. I'm hoping that some of the more experienced members here can help me figure out what it is.
