This coral colony has to be one of the strangest I've ever owned.
I've had this acropora simplex for about two years, it started off with the awkward flat branches that come to a point and it was a deep purple. I had it out of the tank to frag it and dropped it, causing it to break into a bunch of pieces. When I put it back it was fine but started to develop a green streak through it. Eventually the green took over most of the body, the picture doesn't show it but the green is actually marbled with what looks like layers of green, a little purple, and a yellowish color. Later I am going to try to dig up some older pics of it to show the morphing process over the years. I've fragged it a few times and a few of the frags have turned purple and some stay the marbled green, it's very strange. The tips on it are still dark purple but I can't ever get it to photo. What is even more strange about this particular simplex is the flat branches have morphed into long tubular branches. They are long branches with a single axial polyp per branch, and no radial polyps. Polyps are bleach white too, which look cool when they are extended but it isn't very often. The very bottoms of the branches are still flat but they are not that almost pancaked shape that simplex branches usually are. Also, it is not near as fragile as it looks...I've bumped this guy many of times and only broke it once, but it did shatter when I dropped it on my hardwood floors. Maybe it is the large amount of flow in my tank. Through all of the morphing this coral is still one of the most interesting pieces in my tank. And sits right smack in the center for a reason. Grows super slow though. Is this a common morphology of acropora simplex?
I've had this acropora simplex for about two years, it started off with the awkward flat branches that come to a point and it was a deep purple. I had it out of the tank to frag it and dropped it, causing it to break into a bunch of pieces. When I put it back it was fine but started to develop a green streak through it. Eventually the green took over most of the body, the picture doesn't show it but the green is actually marbled with what looks like layers of green, a little purple, and a yellowish color. Later I am going to try to dig up some older pics of it to show the morphing process over the years. I've fragged it a few times and a few of the frags have turned purple and some stay the marbled green, it's very strange. The tips on it are still dark purple but I can't ever get it to photo. What is even more strange about this particular simplex is the flat branches have morphed into long tubular branches. They are long branches with a single axial polyp per branch, and no radial polyps. Polyps are bleach white too, which look cool when they are extended but it isn't very often. The very bottoms of the branches are still flat but they are not that almost pancaked shape that simplex branches usually are. Also, it is not near as fragile as it looks...I've bumped this guy many of times and only broke it once, but it did shatter when I dropped it on my hardwood floors. Maybe it is the large amount of flow in my tank. Through all of the morphing this coral is still one of the most interesting pieces in my tank. And sits right smack in the center for a reason. Grows super slow though. Is this a common morphology of acropora simplex?
