Gonipora / Bernardpora ID?

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ausmal

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Hey everyone, the Goni thread made me want to post this to get to the bottom of it. Sold as a Goni- not so sure. The stems never extend so would love to know. It's a pink/purple/blue with green mouth. The outside areas are more blueish than the pink in the middle. Either way I love it reminds me of a Mogwai from Gremlins for some reason! Once I know I'd love to get a piece that shares the rock with it.

20250722_131601.jpg d.jpg
 

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Goni, not Bernardpora. Bernardpora has a special 3-outer-1-inner tentacle cycle
 
Yeah it's really nice, I've noticed the outer edge is a wicked pink color so I've just nudged it towards a bit of shade in the tank to see if the rest of it's colors up pink.
 
Gonis have 24 “petals”, betnardpora have 24 so distinction may be hard from that perspective. Gonis usually have longer, larger, flowing tentacles where bernardpora are smaller, short and pointy. Doesn’t mean I have an answer for you for sure but I’m going to go with bernardpora.
 
Gonis have 24 “petals”, betnardpora have 24 so distinction may be hard from that perspective. Gonis usually have longer, larger, flowing tentacles where bernardpora are smaller, short and pointy. Doesn’t mean I have an answer for you for sure but I’m going to go with bernardpora.
Bernardpora actually has 16-24+ tentacles depending on the polyp. What the hobby calls Bernardpora are not actually Bernardpora, but actually just Goniopora cf. minor (OP's coral is just a regular goni); the misidentification comes from Jake Adams and Reef Builders. True Bernardpora look like this:
Bernardpora stutchburyi | Noumea, New Caledonia | Credit: Damien Brouste
1756583595366.png

Bernardpora stutchburyi | Singapore | Credit: Budak on iNat
1756583946897.png

Bernardpora stutchburyi | Hong Kong | Credit: Hoi Tou Seung
1756584196984.png
 
Gonis have 24 “petals”, betnardpora have 24 so distinction may be hard from that perspective. Gonis usually have longer, larger, flowing tentacles where bernardpora are smaller, short and pointy. Doesn’t mean I have an answer for you for sure but I’m going to go with bernardpora.
Bernardpora actually has 16-24+ tentacles depending on the polyp. What the hobby calls Bernardpora are not actually Bernardpora, but actually just Goniopora cf. minor (OP's coral is just a regular goni); the misidentification comes from Jake Adams and Reef Builders. True Bernardpora look like this:
Bernardpora stutchburyi | Noumea, New Caledonia | Credit: Damien Brouste
1756583595366.png

Bernardpora stutchburyi | Singapore | Credit: Budak on iNat
1756583946897.png

Bernardpora stutchburyi | Hong Kong | Credit: Hoi Tou Seung
1756584196984.png
Good to know.
 
I like that Goni, nice!

Gave my corals a good feeding of ground up reef roids, whiting fillet (Aussie fish) and scallops, was the perfect time to show the outer pink coloring as it was retracted after feeding. Feel like the lower light areas really pink up where as the top direct light is more of a light purple.

I moved it to the bit more shady part under my cave, but then realised it was stopping my strombus from moving around the tank and just kept going and knocking over my new torch head so had to bring it back out but I'm keen to give it a try.

Attached video so you can see the difference.


20250901_211117.jpg
 
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