Blastos?

[Paul_N]

I got this in a LFS for $29. It was sold as a blastos. I have never seen one with the striped look to it. Is this a blastos and if so what kind?

Thanks for any input....:bigsmile:

 

[clowns101]

Do the "coralites" have shared walls,like a favia?

Im not 100 % sure,but I dont think they are.

 

[Paul_N]

They do share the walls. I mean the are joined but there are distinct edges on each and boney skeleton around the edge of each one that I can feel under them when I touch them. I started to think they were some kind of mushroom but they are not separate at all. Some seem to have two mouths and I guess will split. Dunno just a little confused on this.

 

[clowns101]

Im confused to,possible a welsoni?Not sure,kinda hard to tell with a bit of a blur on one part,but a welsoni will have shared walls,and will have multimouths in each little section or corallite,but Welsonis dont really have a corallite,but you get my point.

 

[seafansar]

Weird. They look like a candy cane coral, but the heads aren't separated.

 

[MitchReef]

Actually the species is Blastomussa wellsi, and I don't think those are Blastos. I love blastos and have had quite a few. Here are a couple of pics to show their structure:

Here is one with polyps partially retracted

a single polyp

And these are Blastomussa merletti (to the left)

 

[Paul_N]

I was looking closer and I actually have one head with 3 mouths on it. That is what threw me off was that there was not a distinct separation between the heads. I have this one already and it looks nothing like it.

 

[condor]

i say symphyllia wilsoni, but i would like to see a clearer pic

 

[MitchReef]

That's a pretty colony Paul. I lost my best colony to date....it just started atrophying away.

I can't wait til that single becomes a colony!

 

[carolinareefgrowers]

My first thought was 10+ heads for $29.00, not a blasto but looking at the second pic I would say yes to Blastomussa wellsi. Great find!

 

[Paul_N]

i say symphyllia wilsoni, but i would like to see a clearer pic

I was leaning that way if not a blastos. The only thing that was odd was these were pretty symmetrical unlike most of the Symplyllia wilsoni I have seen that tend to have different shaped heads in each colony. But the edge of each head looks similar with the lack of separation and just puffiness.

 

[condor]

dont think its a blasto. you can see the feeders on that coral, and blastos just close up around food and dont have the feeders

 

[condor]

could also be a tight knit lobo

 

[Paul_N]

My first thought was 10+ heads for $29.00, not a blasto but looking at the second pic I would say yes to Blastomussa wellsi. Great find!

I have had that second one for about a year. I didn't get that one for $29. It wasn't that much though as I got it off of a fellow reefer. He bought all the livestock from someone getting out and I got a couple things off of him for one price. I honestly don't think I paid much more than $29 for that either though. I'm a bargain shopper when it comes to coral.:bigsmile:

 

[Paul_N]

That's a pretty colony Paul. I lost my best colony to date....it just started atrophying away.
I can't wait til that single becomes a colony!

Mitch you have some very nice blastos. I hope to have a collection like that...:bigsmile: I am going to concentrate on those and other lps for my 220 when it's up and running.

 

[MitchReef]

Thanks Paul. I just really love them. I had this one, but it was the last head of a badly stung colony and it never really got back to health. It slowly faded.

I also have this one, but it's not doing well just now, a lot of recession.

 

[skinz78]

I'm also leaning towards a symphyllia wilsoni, can you get a few more clearer pic's?

 

[ReeferRob]

I think its an Ouly!
Oulophyllia bennettae
I used to have one.

 

[Paul_N]

I think its an Ouly!
Oulophyllia bennettae
I used to have one.

You may be right Sherlock! When I searched images the basic structure looks like it. I haven't seen any with the swirly coloration but I am thinking it's it.

Thanks Rob..:bigsmile:

 

[carolinareefgrowers]

My bad, I thought the second pic was a recent pic of the same colony.