Thanks everyone!

[LowCel]

Hey, I just wanted to take a second to thank Ron and Barry for providing us all with a place to learn, trade and everything else. I also wanted to thank everyone for the great frags.

[coralreefer]

Glad ya finally got to meet me :D
Bird's nest is looking good.

Did find out for sure my strain of xenia is definitely not the same as the pom pom and elongata you and Matt have. Couldn't be sure until I had all three together in the tank.
Let me know if you want a frag.
Jim and I looked through in a coral book at his shop and we think it may be "umbrella" xenia.

[firefish2020]

Umbrella or (xenia umbellatta) is also commonly called Red Sea or white pom pom. I have 5 species of xenia right now and it is my opinion the one Matt had is a pom pom umbellata. It is very different in appearance to true red sea umbellata. Red Sea Umbellata tends to have curved hands that never seem to fully open also it's growth rate and morphology are quite different. Keep in mind there are over 16 species of xenia on the market And there are over 60 known to exist! Thats a lot of xenia.

[MattG]

if anyone hasnt seen this heres some good xenia info

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/ac/feature/index.htm

[coralreefer]

Duh...note to self re-read my post when I edit it. Meant we think it may be "red sea umbrella" or umbellata.

Originally posted by firefish2020
it is my opinion the one Matt had is a pom pom umbellata. It is very different in appearance to true red sea umbellata. Red Sea Umbellata tends to have curved hands that never seem to fully open also it's growth rate and morphology are quite different.

Yup.

I hate common names since these two "pom poms" are different.

Ron see if my description between the two types (mine and a frag from Matt) helps any. I don't have a book handy and it's been a couple of months since I looked this up.


Mine is a VERY slow growing for a xenia species.
Generally spreads by only by division but will usually attach to a rock placed next to the stock.

They've been sitting side by side so the environment is the same:

Never noticed about the hands until right now but they are curved.
"Hands" are much smaller, less feathery with a more pronounced pulse (but look nothing like elongata).
Over all the stocks are much more compact and tend to stand more erect.
Stocks and hand are a lot pinker and uniform in color, no white in the stock or the back of the hand.

Keep in mind there are over 16 species of xenia on the market And there are over 60 known to exist! Thats a lot of xenia.

Exactly why I'm trying to see which species everybody has :)

Haven't bothered to bring xenia to the swaps cause our two "farmers" have a heck of a lot more than I do and I wasn't sure if it was all the same. That's why I got a frag from Matt to compare.
Looks like I can bring some in next time...whatever it is :D

[firefish2020]

Amy in my opinion you have red sea umbellata. We only have one supplier for red sea at the shop and thats me lol. That was months ago before I lost my red sea to a crash and it's just now startting to come back. By all means bring some in, you can get some good stuff for that, at auction a 1 inch stalk (attached) would bring about $25-30 No one wants to get rid of the stuff once they have it. It grows so sloooowly I can see why my colony is almost the size it was when I first started lol. It's pretty rare stuff so congrads on it! My next target is going to be Bali Xenia but it's even more rare and difficult to get to live I'll let you know if and when I get it.

[firefish2020]

This is what red sea umbellata looks like.

http://members.aol.com/jomarspets/redsea.jpg

Note the curved hands.

Hope this helps,
Ron