Names of the Corals?
 

It would be good to have names for the corals etc. as well as the fish.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...oral-names.jpg

I know most of them, it's easiest if I just write the latin and common names on a jpeg to save confusion. Corals are often very simlar, and microscopy would be used to identify individual members of species. Interestingly most of the corals are in the Large Polyped Stoney coral (LPS) group, with some anenomes too, but very few small polyp corals (SPS). Aggressive stinging and wandering anenones would cause some rapid losses in this tank, starting with neighbouring corals. Many of the invertebrates in this tank have very aggressive defensive stings! Also interesting is the starfish wanders around while motile corals such as the Fungia are fixed. I would say that the Zoathids are indeed Zoas not Palys, although their scale would suggest otherwise in the digital image. I think this is a scale issue and they are in fact zoas that just appear unnaturally large. I have left the Sarkofytun (leather coral) at the top of the bubble column unlabeled as it could, just maybe, be a more desirable Turbinaria (Vase coral). Also, the small LPS cluster could be a type of Caulastrea (Candy Coral) or maybe a Nemenzophyllia (Fox Coral). Left of that, (behind the clams) is possibly a Devils finger soft coral. The LPS hard coral (centre bottom) looks like some kind of Open brain, but not one I can ID with a latin name or be 100% sure of... The purple shading on the far left most rock in the tank is corraline algae, which you would expect to have spread widely throughout a mature tank...

...Hopefully that answers the question... Si

Can you identify the white coral to the right of Actinodiscus cardinalis?
It's the only (big) coral you didn't mention.

Simico,
What would the correct scale be for the Zoanthus?

:TU:

Simico -- A BIG THANK YOU!! :TU: :)

Very many thanks for your excellent explanation etc. You are obviously an expert on marine life. It is very much appreciated.

I missed that one out, as to my eye it is dead (!). It was very common to fill tanks with bleached corals in the 80's, but as people figured out how to keep corals alive in closed systems, the fashion understandably completely reversed. Maybe it is a homage to the early tanks, which would be a nice touch by Jim. Incidently, the bubble coral was one of the first sucessfully kept living corals, so it's inclusion is another nice choice.

If I had to (very much) guess from the shape of the skeleton, I could suggest that in life it was something like a Hydnophora Rigida. If alive, this would be a flouresent green due to the symbiotic zooxanthellae. There aren't many white corals, as the corals use various coloured pigments to protect their tissue from UV radiation, although there are some. I would say this was definitely an SPS coral and possibly in life a Hydnophora Rigida (common name Horn Coral).

You sure know a lot about corals!! If you don't mind, what's the Latin and common names for the bubble coral you referred to above as one of the first successfully kept living corals? And the two iridescent colored ones (one just above the bubble coral and the other one sitting on the gravel below and to the left of the brain coral). :)

As zoas, I would think they could be reduced to nearly half their current size. If they are Palythoa (Palys) I would say you could possibly get away with the current scale. Personally, I would suggest they are zoas as they reflect very closely a colour morph and appearence I am familiar with in zoas. If the centers had been the same green of the Hammer coral next to it, I would have swung toward Palys. However, the central bump (Mouth) at thier centre makes me think again they are indeed oversized zoas, although I think some Palys may also have these central bumps... but in those I have seen, more often than not, the bump is absent.

The latin name is Plerogyra, the common name is Bubble coral.

...sorry, I don't see any other corals above the bubble, unless you mean the Elkhorn.

I think the one on the gravel is maybe a type of Open Brain LPS, but not 100% sure...

No worries! The shells are barnacle clusters. They are dead but are used commonly to provide a natural shelter for small fish and for a site for fish to lay their eggs.

Thanks. It's good to learn about these corals and shells, dead and alive. What's the iridescent one to the left of the Zoas and also the green one above the Maxima clams? :)

Great graphic simico! That's a keeper. Do you have a higher quality version?

What is this neat thing called? (didn't see it identified above)
Attachment 7795
(NOW I know...lol)

simico mentioned it in his original post (#2) but couldn't identify it precisely: "The LPS hard coral (centre bottom) looks like some kind of Open brain, but not one I can ID with a latin name or be 100% sure of..."

Yes, it's an Open Brain coral.

:TU: :)

Can I just say how cool this is - and thanks a lot, I always wondered what a lot of them were...
John

Yes, Thank You. It did help me too.

Many thanks again. I'm glad I raised the question originally.

No worries, my pleasure. Thanks all.

Here you go, the higher res version.

It's a Leathar Coral.

Leather Coral?
In post #2 of this forum simico has identified the brown mushroomlike coral on the right as a Leather Coral(as second option Vase Coral). In another thread it was called an Elephant Ear Coral.
Can you explain that? :confused:

Some Forum members have offered their best guesses, but even the experts are inconsistant in the names of coral. If I put in names, I'll make every effort to find the proper ones.

The improvements in the pink bubble coral are very nice. Thanks!

Thanks for the correction Jim! - Just to clarify, the large mushroom like corals next to the new green one is Rhodactis mussoides - Elephant Ear Mushroom Coral. (My previous best guess was Sarkofytun, common name leather coral). It really is very hard to ID these corals 100% without physically having it in front of you, as visually many are so similar. Also latin names have to be used when labeling IDs', as common names, overlap multiple corals, and mean different things to different people, so this could get confusing!

I'm not going to hazard a guess at the new one, (as I have to admit), I wouldn't have guessed it as a leather coral as a contender for my best guess! Again, the form of corals can depend on enviromental factors. i.e. Current strength can cause identical corals to either grow in a branching formation, or in a boulder formation, or flattened out. Obviously lighting conditions, light intensity, the lights colour temperature, duration, etc. also affect growth, but also colour. Corals colour is also altered, (sometimes dramatically), by water conditions (e.g. polutants) and trace element parameters.

Jim your work speaks of determination and pride,
Thank you for sharing it with us. As always we'll be waiting the next installment.

James