Pretty sure this is acan maxima

[All Delight]

Lam. Don't scare me. I have that one that Atlantis sold pretty close to some acans and micros. So far nothing has happened.

[WendyMc]

Maybe you're not SO pure

Randy, are you of the opinion that Maximas are not seen in captivity then? I find the Maxima debate very interesting, but since I have nothing of knowledge to offer I'm just hitching along for the ride.

[All Delight]

I know Maxima discussions always get crazy.

[jasper24]

There is one on frags.org right now. Click "browse" from the main page.

[neyugn0w01]

Originally posted by All Delight
Lam. Don't scare me. I have that one that Atlantis sold pretty close to some acans and micros. So far nothing has happened.

All I am saying is be careful what you place them next to. If you have some extra lords laying around, you can always test my theory.

[WendyMc]

Originally posted by jasper24
There is one on frags.org right now. Click "browse" from the main page.

Thank you I know there are some offered for sale occasionally, but there is debate always whether or not it is actually Maxima or just an unusual polyped something else...This is the debate that fascinates me so for some reason. I guess the only way to know for sure is by skeletal identification or microscopic tissue examination and I for one would not offer my coral up for sacrifice if I had one of these sweet fine thangs in my system.

[ReefDoctorMicromussas]

"sweet fine thangs " <------ sooo nerdy

[RandyO]

Originally posted by WendyMc
Maybe you're not SO pure

Randy, are you of the opinion that Maximas are not seen in captivity then? I find the Maxima debate very interesting, but since I have nothing of knowledge to offer I'm just hitching along for the ride.

Hi Wendy,
Most of the people on here know my position on the "Maxima" thing. It's a coral that is found only in Oman waters, which is an area not collected for the aquarium trade.


The colors are a drab green, gray or brown.



And I've never seen one of these in someone's tank. Only pictures in Oman waters.

In my opinion, it's a very plain, un interesting coral. But because no one has one, everyone wants one. So when we see a very large polyped Musside, it's labeled an Acanthastrea maxima. I've seen dozens of people claim they've found it. The holy grail. If we posted all those pictures in the same thread, most of them would probably not be the same genus, never mind species.

The pieces I see people claim as Acanthastrea maxima are far nicer than any True Maxima I've seen from wild pics.

But that's how it goes. Once people get their minds set on an ID, and they spread it around, before long, everyone knows these colorful, large polyped Mussides as A. maxima.

It's a loosing battle, which is why most of the nay sayers stop saying nay.

[WendyMc]

Originally posted by doctor64776
"sweet fine thangs " <------ sooo nerdy

It's a gift!

Randy, thank you for taking the time to post that. I am a very visual learner and I finally have some understanding of where this issue stems from. Are the Oman waters a CITES protected area, or is it local government which prevents collection?

[neyugn0w01]

Randy,
Those are definitely some nice maxima. Too bad we do not have any of those around. Like always, you are always on top of things.

[RandyO]

Scientific Name Acanthastrea maxima
Common Name "Fleshy Artichoke Coral"
Color Dark brown or green




Distinguishing Characteristics
Like the starry cup coral, heavy septal spines are the dominant characteristic of this species. However, the diameters of its calyces are much larger, up to 5 cm, and polyps may expand to twice this diameter. This species is endemic to Oman, meaning that it has been encountered in only Oman waters, having been described from a specimen first found off Ras al Hamra.

Habitat
Thus far, fleshy artichoke coral is very uncommon and has only been collected from the ridge area lying between Ras al Hamra and Al Fahl Island in the Muscat area, and in the nearshore waters at Sahd, Dhofar. It appears to be favored by relatively low light and high turbidity conditions that are present over sandy bottoms where most other coral species are not abundant




Info from this website.
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research...orBkCh3htm.htm

[GreshamH]

Originally posted by WendyMc
It's a gift!

Randy, thank you for taking the time to post that. I am a very visual learner and I finally have some understanding of where this issue stems from. Are the Oman waters a CITES protected area, or is it local government which prevents collection?

The country of Oman doesn't allow collection. I'm not sure if they are a CITES member nation or not though. CITES really isn't about protecting waters, areas, etc, it's more about protection of wildlife and now fossils.

[zeppelin]

I remember seeing a pic Amy Larson posted a couple years ago af an acan lord with messile (sp) webbing stretched out and that had attacked a zoanthid polyp. The zoo polyp was completely engulfed by the webbing, and was a good 1 1/2"-2" away from the acan.

[nUgZ]

Yes what he is describing as destroyer tentacles are in fact the mesentary(sp?) filaments. Basically it's digestive system that it send out to eat its competition.

[WendyMc]

Zeppelin, are you sure Amy's picture wasn't an echinata? I remember those posts about an echinata, not a lord. I could have them confused, though. She titled it 'Spiderman' if I remember correctly...

[zeppelin]

It was a lord for sure.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by WendyMc
Zeppelin, are you sure Amy's picture wasn't an echinata? I remember those posts about an echinata, not a lord. I could have them confused, though. She titled it 'Spiderman' if I remember correctly...

The spiderman pic was Tigaboy's. It was an echinata, and it was awesome.

Amy's picture was the last one of the Reefslides in Septemeber 2004.



Here's the original reefslides of Astounding Acanthastrea
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-0...ides/index.php

[neyugn0w01]

Great picture. However, I am 100% sure that the "unknown" is not a echinata or a lord. Someone with the "unknown" just needs to test the theory.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by neyugn0w01
Great picture. However, I am 100% sure that the "unknown" is not a echinata or a lord. Someone with the "unknown" just needs to test the theory.

I had to read this post over a few times, and I'm not completely sure I know what your saying, but if you are saying that the piece you are calling A. maxima is defiantly not a lord or echinata, I would agree with you. What ever they are, they are something else.

For example, the orange looking coral at The Captive Reef looks like an orange Scolymia vitensis.
Here's a link to his Orange coral.
http://thecaptivereef.samsbiz.com/us...and=1136606736

It could be Multi-mouth Scolymia vitiensis


Maybe a multi-mouth Scolymia australis


Characters: Usually solitary but sometimes two to four centres occur in one corallite, or occasionally in separate corallites. Corallites are saucer-shaped and less than 60 millimetres diameter. Septa are sturdy with blunt saw-like teeth.

Or possibly Scolymia cubensis


Characters: Usually attached but may be free-living, with a tapered base. Polyps have one, rarely two or more centres and are sometimes over 100 millimetres across. They may be only a few millimetres thick, with successive regrowths forming tiers. Sometimes corallites have several mouths. Septa are in two or three orders of slightly different size. A paliform crown may be distinguishable. Polyps are fleshy. Colour: Uniform or variegated brown, red, tan or green. Sometimes bright orange (which may photograph brown). Similar species: Solitary polyps of Mussa angulosa. Habitat: Lower reef slopes and soft substrates. Abundance: Uncommon.

Taxonomic note: It is commonly believed that there are three, not one, species of Scolymia in the Atlantic. The names Scolymia lacera (Pallas, 1766), S. cubensis (Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849) and S. wellsi (Laborel, 1967) have been variously used. In most publications (best depicted by Zlatarski and Estalella, 1982), S. lacera is actually Mussa angulosa with solitary polyps. The name S. wellsi is usually given to small polyps of the present species and to those from Brazil. Source reference: Veron (2000). Taxonomic reference: Fenner (1993).

[RandyO]

Keep in mind that many of our aquarium corals inflate much larger than they do in the wild.

Cynaria lacrymalis

[neyugn0w01]

I wish I still have a picture of that "unknown", even though it is not a maxima. I know someone on RC has a picture of that coral. Please post if you do.

[zeppelin]

Here's my contribution. This is arriving today. Looks to have a chance at being a maxima. Guess I'll probably have to sacrifice a polyp though to get a skeleton shot to verify. You know I'll be getting back with you Randy. Thanks for the help with this so far.

[RandyO]

You'll know more once you get it settled in Larry.

A maxima is very fleshy, expanding to twice the size of it's coralite's diameter.

A good look at at a dead polyp would do much more for ID'ing it.

[al abaqueta]

Very nice, but i think if you noticed that you're colony is producing babies,smaller heads, then you have your answer, It is a large Lord. Hope this helps. Al

[WendyMc]

Al, do Maximas reproduce in a different way than Lords?