Chalice ID | Giant Heads

W0terMoist · Jul 10, 2022

Bought this frag from my local store. They said it looked like a small blasto, I think it's a chalice with huge heads. Any ideas on the name of it?

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Jul 10, 2022

It's certainly possible. Very pretty regardless!

nano reef · Sep 9, 2022

That tis the most unusual coral I have ever seen! Did you ever figure it out? I saw u post several times for an id. the fact that it close does make me think Blasto! Pretty sure because i have one blasto that dosnt fully open ever and I can see the skelton around it like that. I think you have an unusual blasto! maybe worth a lot of money!

W0terMoist · Sep 10, 2022

nano reef said:
That tis the most unusual coral I have ever seen! Did you ever figure it out? I saw u post several times for an id. the fact that it close does make me think Blasto! Pretty sure because i have one blasto that dosnt fully open ever and I can see the skelton around it like that. I think you have an unusual blasto! maybe worth a lot of money!

I'll take an updated photo of the coral tomorrow evening. I am now almost certain it is a chalice. After some more growth I have seen a new head form at the perimeter of the purple flesh (distant from the other heads). This leads me to assume it is not a blasto, plus the purple flesh between the heads doesn't seem blaso to me. However, I was lucky online and found its potential identification that I'll share now.

The heads on the picture look very similar to the ones on my coral. The main difference is the color and texture of the flesh between the heads (keep in mind that my coral is less than a 1/2 in diameter so the frag is tiny. It says that it is an Echinopora coral wich is what the common Hollywood Stunner is classified as. However, this is the only information I have found online that may pertian to my coral so I still have a little skepticism to if indeed this is the species of coral I have.

Either way, the frag I have looks amazing and I can't wait for it to grow out. If indeed it is a chalice, it's personally my favorite. And just to think I found this bad boy growing in the back of a frag tank on a dead piece of coral at my local shop and only paid $20 for it.