What type of Brain is this?

[cgries]

And here is a close up

[xdusty6920]

kinda looks loboish

[mummra100769]

i am tagging along. i do not think it's lobo i have one and it burned the heck out of my red and green lobo. i have had lobos touch before with no trouble.

[mschriskim]

Mine killed once of my Acan Lord..... Lobo killing Acan Lord... I do not think it is lobo.... maybe it is killer lobo.

: )

[Tico Mike]

Is it branching or is the tissue connected between the polyps? Also how fleshy is it and how large are the corallites?

[RandyO]

Good questions Tico Mike.

That coral looks to be one of the mysterious Mussids that have been showing up lately. There's not a good consensus yet as to an ID.

Nevertheless, it's a very cool looking coral.

[marillion]

Acanthastrea maxima. :P

Peace,

Chip

[mschriskim]

Chip, I taught it is maxima but some people send me few emails about it and 90% sure it is not maxima...

Well, it does not have branch so it is not candy.

I will put a tag unkown mysterious Mussids as Randy said.

Here is mine. mummra100769 has a same color colony as well.

[john76]

Whatever it is it's really cool looking. cgries, did you get it from an LFS?

[mummra100769]

[cgries]

I got it from the LFS where I work part-time. The funny thing is it sat and sat for several weeks in one of our tanks and I tried to get people to buy it because it looked really cool and I knew it was an unique coral. It even has a feather duster growing out of it. I saw that it had some faint orange in it, so I finally bought it for like 30 bucks (I get a discount). I didn't think is was an acan of any sort because the polyps are to big compared to the acan's I have seen. The polyps are not joined, It is some type of mussid but as to the genus, I can only guess Lobo. I think that is what it came in as. But it has colored up nicely under my halides.

[marillion]

With the colors of the pieces pictured in this thread, how can there be any doubt they are acanthastrea maxima?

Since when do lobos look like that?

Peace,

Chip

[mummra100769]

wow could they be maxima? or are just pulling our chains? i know they are not lobo for sure.

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

nice coral!

[mschriskim]

Here is another unkown LPS that I have....

[RandyO]

Originally posted by marillion
With the colors of the pieces pictured in this thread, how can there be any doubt they are acanthastrea maxima?

Since when do lobos look like that?

Peace,

Chip

Chip,
That is one of the reasons I don't believe them to be A.maxima. Maximas are very dull colors.

That would be reason one.

Reason two would be that they are only found in Oman.

Reason three would be that it just doesn't look like one.

Acanthastrea maxima
Characters: Colonies are cerioid with corallites up to 50 millimetres diameter. Septa are coarsely toothed. Polyps have a fleshy mantle up to 100 millimetres diameter and with a Lobophyllia–like texture. Colour: Green, grey or brown. Similar species: Symphyllia wilsoni. The fleshy mantles are more extensive than those of any other Acanthastrea. Acanthastrea ishigakiensis has slightly smaller polyps. Habitat: Known only from moderately deep, turbid water. Abundance: Rare.

Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Sheppard and Salm (1988). Identification guides: Sheppard and Sheppard (1991), Coles (1996), Carpenter et al. (1997).












What ever those corals are, they are much better looking than Acanthastrea maxima.

My guess would be some type of Lobophyllia.

[Large Polyp Dave]

okay... maybe i'm stupid but the first pic undeniably looks like a acan maxima to me. without a doubt.

the acan maximas i've seen certainly do not have dull colours. if you find photos of them on a taxophilic website, of course the specimens will be dull. but an aquarium grade specimen will be MUCH nicer =)

[Tico Mike]

The skeleton will be the only sure way to tell. Given the unique location that acan. maximas come from, it is next to impossible for the corals above to be maximas. There are MANY different lobos, and some do look like that. I have one like the pics above and it is a lobo. If you don't think lobos can look that nice you should do a search and check out some of the nice colors. Not all lobos are the typical hemprichi form....

[marillion]

I'll stand corrected if someone gets me a lobo colored like the ones in this thread. So there!

Peace,

Chip

[Tico Mike]

How about you give me your coral and I'll call it a "maxima"?

[RandyO]

Originally posted by Large Polyp Dave
okay... maybe i'm stupid but the first pic undeniably looks like a acan maxima to me. without a doubt.

the acan maximas i've seen certainly do not have dull colours. if you find photos of them on a taxophilic website, of course the specimens will be dull. but an aquarium grade specimen will be MUCH nicer =)

These photos were also taken from that taxophilic website, and they don't lack color.





And look at this description.

Characters: Colonies are massive and cerioid, with laterally compressed corallites of uneven height. Walls are acute: septa are thick, with large teeth. Columellae are barely developed. Colonies have a thick fleshy mantle which is covered by fine papillae. Colour: Very colourful: red, purple and green are the most common colours, with corallites and walls almost always of contrasting colours. Similar species: Micromussa amakusensis. See also Acanthastrea echinata. Habitat: Shallow reef environments especially of subtropical localities. Abundance: Sometimes common.

Note: very colorful



So even though world renowned author Dr. Jen Veron says that A. maxima's colors are Green, Grey or Brown we should take your word on it that they are much more colorful.

Well, you've got me convinced.

[RandyO]

Chip,

Here is a nice Lobophyllia serratus.


Not as nice as the ones in this thread, but then, it's from a Taxonomic site.

[Large Polyp Dave]

umm... randy, i was just quoting you...

you said "I don't believe them to be A.maxima. Maximas are very dull colors. "

i'm saying that maximas are colourful and can easily have the colours in the picture with the requested ID

[RandyO]

Originally posted by Large Polyp Dave
umm... randy, i was just quoting you...

you said "I don't believe them to be A.maxima. Maximas are very dull colors. "

i'm saying that maximas are colourful and can easily have the colours in the picture with the requested ID

You are correct. I did state my opinion on the matter, but then immediately backed up that opinion with referenced facts.

Originally posted by RandyO


Acanthastrea maxima
Characters: Colonies are cerioid with corallites up to 50 millimetres diameter. Septa are coarsely toothed. Polyps have a fleshy mantle up to 100 millimetres diameter and with a Lobophyllia–like texture. Colour: Green, grey or brown. Similar species: Symphyllia wilsoni. The fleshy mantles are more extensive than those of any other Acanthastrea. Acanthastrea ishigakiensis has slightly smaller polyps. Habitat: Known only from moderately deep, turbid water. Abundance: Rare.

Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Sheppard and Salm (1988). Identification guides: Sheppard and Sheppard (1991), Coles (1996), Carpenter et al. (1997).

I would be more than happy to look at any links you might be able to provide with pictures or other facts about A. maxima. I honestly don't know much about these corals other than what Veron has referenced so I would be happy for someone to enlighten us with more facts on these rare corals. I've read plenty of peoples opinions, but not much on hard facts.

[RandyO]

I just saw this coral for sale at an online vendor. Was planning on letting you know about it if someone was looking for a coral similar to the ones in this thread, but by the time I started this, it was gone.

[IMG]http://www.******************/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/symphyllia_8-17-01f.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.******************/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/symphyllia_8-17-01fA.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.******************/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/symphyllia_8-17-01fB.jpg[/IMG]

Photo's taken from ******************