Goniopora or Zoanthid?

[Salt4Us]

Ok, when we first got this piece quite a few months ago, the pink flowers on it I thought were zoanthids, but within the last couple days they have extended their stalks and judging by the petals it almost looks like a flowerpot coral (Goniopora). I'm looking for a second opinion, it really looks like the Goniopora that is shown in the Aquarium Corals book by Eric Borneman on page 241, only pink.

thanks for anyone who can let me know.

 

[d9hp]

Goni has my vote, but I doubt they are zoos

 

[fishfreek]

Does this coral have any kind of hard skeleton at the base of the polyps or does it attach directly to the rock its sitting on. If it was a goniopora it would have a skeletal structure where as a zoanthid would not.

At least thats my take on it.

 

[Salt4Us]

Ok, if I'm understanding this, this is what I can see, from the stalk it goes to a skin like area which they all seem to be a part of, and then it's on the rock. Not sure if that helps or if that is a hard skeleton.

They are so unlike zoos, they almost shrink down when a crab touches them the stalk collapes and they turn into small flowers, they don't fold in like zoanthids, that's what made me start to wonder. I know there are many different types of zoanthids, I was just curious, heck the guy that sold them to me at the LFS didn't even know what they were when I told him that's what I wanted and he owns the store! Scary huh.

 

[michealprater]

Looks just like a goniapora to me. Good luck with it, they have a very poor survival rate in aquariums. However I have seen them kept successfully. Jblitz99 has had one for a long time.

 

[Salt4Us]

Thanks, it's been in the tank for a while and I read up on those seems they like a good current and murky conditions so I think they've grown more because I've been stirring the sand a couple times a week. What ever is happening they seem to be thriving

 

[fishfreek]

This is a google search on goniopora

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=goniopora&spell=1

If you look at the photos you will see all of the polyps are extending out of a calcified skeleton. The description you gave above does not sound as if they are extending from a skeleton but have simply attached to the rock they are sitting on.

 

[michealprater]

If it is a goniapora I believe each polyp will have 12 tenicles. I think, I get them and alveopora mixed up. Both of them have a certain number of tenicles.

 

[Salt4Us]

well it's not gonipora, because it doesn't have that skeleton and the petals look differently too. Now I'm completely lost, is it just a different type of zoanthids? Oh well I guess I should just be glad it's still alive huh

 

[Salt4Us]

Wait Wait! I found a pic identical to mine, on this site http://www.anchofish.com/_pristine/goniopora_branch.jpg

but what if they don't have the right name for it either? Is it possible it's a different kind of goniopora? :?

 

[reefrunner69]

Gonis have 24 tentacles and alveopora have 12. It does look like a goni, but I'm not sure. Can you get a close up of one polyp? Gonis will extend from a "skin" which connects all the polyps, but will have a hard skeleton under the skin.

 

[Salt4Us]

Unfortunately this is as close as my camera can zoom in without getting blurry, and this is with a macro, someday we'll get a real good digital.

They are connected to a skin, but I can't see a skeleton, is it possible these are hitchhikers, we've had them for quite a few months and have gotten a lot bigger and the stems started to get longer.

I haven't done anything special for these except when we put this branch like rock down where it is, these get a lot more flow and get a lot of the food or other stuff that may be on the sand.

I've tried counting, I've counted more than twelve.

 

[jorcutt]

Wow. That's a tough one. For starters, the link you posted is definitely a goniopora. But something about this just doesn't look like a goni to me. And the fact that it's ON a rock make me much more inclined to go with zooanthid. But...I wouldn't rule out Turbinaria peltata either as it can grow in many forms. It's polyps are generally farther apart, however. Can you make it close up and then take a pic? I think that'd be the easiest way to tell.

 

[Salt4Us]

That's as close as I could get with the camera, I'm going to look up the Turbinaria peltata and see what it looks like. Thanks for the help

 

[jorcutt]

Oops. By close up, I didn't mean zoom in more, just asking for a photo of the polyps closed up as a closed up goni looks different from closed up zooanthids. Make it retract.

 

[Salt4Us]

Ok, when they close up it's more like they compress, they shrink down, they don't fold up like zoos do, they look like little flowers compressed into the rock. I'll try and get a pic and post it.