tell tale signs of Dendro vs sun coral.

[akunochi]

So I was given some corals today by someone tearing down their tank. I was told they were two heads of baby dendro polyps, but they look more yellow and tiny than my last Dendro. How can I tell for sure?

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
The two corals don't really look much alike. When closed Sun Coral (Tubastrea faulkneri) looks similar to a colony of Zoanthids. Tree Coral (Dendronephthya) on the other hand looks more like a colorful/fuzzy Colt Coral (Cladiella sp.) with a uniform trunk to the base. If you Google the scientific names you will find some excellent images of each.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Brie]

Hello,
The two corals don't really look much alike. When closed Sun Coral (Tubastrea faulkneri) looks similar to a colony of Zoanthids. Tree Coral (Dendronephthya) on the other hand looks more like a colorful/fuzzy Colt Coral (Cladiella sp.) with a uniform trunk to the base. If you Google the scientific names you will find some excellent images of each.

Regards,
Kevin

I think he's referring to Dendrophyllia, not Dendronepthea, Kevin

 

[Faciosity]

Generally, sun corals (tubastrea) have smaller polyps, and grow in tighter bunches, while dendrophyllia gets bigger and more spread out.

 

[Burke]

I dont know if it's a way to tell, but my dendros are out most of the time where my sun coral is only out when there is food in the water....

 

[akunochi]

Thanks for the help guys. It had been so long since I had a dendro I couldn't tell. I picked up some definite dendrophyllia the other day and seeing the two side by side there are clearly differences.

 

[kevinpo]

Oops,
I was just looking at some cool pictures of a tank full of Dendronephthya so they came to mind first . See why scientific names are important

"Dendrophyllia, Not distinguishable from very similar Tubastrea without examination of dead skeletal (septal fusion) characteristics." Quoted from Bob Fenner.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[zoaman]

Dendros usually have feeding tentacles come out during the day while sun corals have to been trained to feed during the day.