Correcting some Coral Misidentifications

[encrustingacro]

I am starting this thread to correct some misidentified corals. Feel free to add in some misidentified corals that you know and the correct species/genus.

Acan Lords:

Acan lords are actually micromussas, not acans. They changed genera in 2016 I think (IDK, I wasn’t in the hobby in 2016).

Acanthastrea Echinata

‘Echinatas’ may not necessarily be of the species acanthastrea echinata. There is also acanthastrea subechinata, rotundoflora, and hemprichii. I don’t know how to identify acanthastrea subechinata and hemprichii, however, from what I’ve seen, acanthastrea rotundoflora seem to have smoother skin and look sort of like chalice corals.

Some Lobophyllias:

Some lobophyllias are actually acanthastrea pachysepta. These pachyseptas tend to be orange, however there are true lobophyllias that are orange and pachyseptas that are not orange. You can tell pachyseptas apart from lobophyllias by the texture of their flesh. A pachysepta’s flesh looks like other acan’s flesh.

Scolymia:

There are 3 species of ‘scolies‘ in the hobby, but none of them are actually in the genus scolymia. The most commonly imported is homophyllia australis, which looks like a big donut. Lobophyllia vitiensis is less frequently imported, and is more flat. Micromussa pacifica, the 3rd species, is typically smaller. Real scolymias are in the Caribbean.

Symphyllia:

Most symphyllias have been reclassified to lobophyllia, with the exception of ‘symphyllia’ wilsoni, which has been reclassified to australophyllia. ’Symphyllias’ look like lobophyllias, but have shared walls (I think that’s the correct term).

Acanthastrea Bowerbanki:

Bowerbankis were moved to the genus homophyllia, along with homophyllia australis.

 

[encrustingacro]

Small Polyped Lithophylons:

Small polyped ‘lithophyllons’, such as the freak hair litho (or pavona depending on who sold it to you), are actually a species of colonial cycloseris.

Fungia:

Most fungias in the hobby are actually not fungias, but other species of solitary fungiids, such as cycloseris and heliofungia (the non long tentacle kind).

 

[encrustingacro]

Hammers, Frogspawns, Frammers, and Octospawns:

Hammers, frogspawns, frammers, and octospawns used to be classified as euphyllia, but have been reclassified as euphyllia, but have been reclassified to a new genus called fimbriaphyllia.

Favias:

After a recent reclassification, favia became an Atlantic only species. Most of the indo pacific favias were moved to the genus dipsastraea. Many corals misidentified as favia in the hobby are from other genera, such as favites and coelastrea.

Platygyra:

Most platygyras in the hobby are not actually platygyras, but other genera/species of meandering coral, such as paragoniastrea australensis and goniastrea favulus. True platygyra have steeper walls and more uneven septa.

 

[jack_aubry]

Thanks for the info. It will be a long time before the updates catch on, but maybe one day.

 

[OldRed1]

Thanks for putting this information together!

 

[encrustingacro]

Pagoda Cup Turbinarias:

Pagoda cup corals are actually a species of duncan coral. They were reclassified fairly recently. Pagoda cups have larger polyps than true turbinarias that look more like duncans.

Dragon Soul/Prism Favias/Goniastreas

Many people have incorrectly identified prism favias as ‘goniastrea’ palauensis (now coelastrea). However, coelastrea palauensis has more angular corallites with steeper walls. Prism favias are actually 2 different species: favites paraflexuosus and dipsastraea rosaria. Both of these species have concentric rings of different colors in each corallite. D. rosaria tends to be more subplocoid, and less noticeable paliform lobes, while f. paraflexuosus is cerioid and has more angular corallites.

Micro/Short Tentacled Goniopora (maybe):

Micro gonioporas have a distinct tentacle arrangement and smaller polyps than other gonioporas. Some people have claimed that they are not gonioporas, but bernardpora, a closely related genus. However, this may or may not be true. Most of the reference images in COTW for bernardpora look different than your typical goni, with only one image that looks similar to a micro goniopora. This is coupled with the fact that other images of bernardpora have radiating lines in the polyps, which micro gonioporas do not have. Furthermore, there are species of goniopora that look like micro gonis, such as g. fruticosa and g. ‘minor’ (now g. pedunculata). I have heard that bernardporas have gaps between their polyps while true micro gonioporas don’t, but I am not sure how true this is.