Hammer Coral Receding?

[TGamble]

I’ve had this hammer for about 2 months now. When it arrived it looked great after acclimation and has looked open and happy since adding it to my 75 gallon tank. I’ve noticed that on the skeleton of the coral, part of the flesh has begun to recede into a ball of white flesh. I will attach pictures to clarify. It still opens fully and seems happy. Tank Parameters are good. I have not seen any fish picking on the coral and all of my other coral are unbothered and look good. Nothing has changed in the tank besides adding a purple dottyback since adding the coral.
Also, there are those little dots on the skeleton of the hammer. Is that a pest that I may not be aware of that is bothering the hammer? Thank you all for your input and advice!
Tank- 75 gallon- 2 1/2 years old
Temp-78
Salinity- 35 ppt
Nitrate 10 ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Ammonia- 0 ppm
Mag- 1380 ppm
Calcium- 460
Alkality- 7.7 dKH
PH-8.3
Phosphate- 0.0

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The "ball of white flesh" in the first picture is mesenterial filaments.

 

[NoohpyT]

could be splitting

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

could be splitting

No

 

[TGamble]

The "ball of white flesh" in the first picture is mesenterial filaments.

Okay, is that something I should be concerned about then? I have iodine dip I used to dip them in when they arrived, would a dip in that be advised?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Okay, is that something I should be concerned about then? I have iodine dip I used to dip them in when they arrived, would a dip in that be advised?

You can do a search here or online about it.

 

[TGamble]

You can do a search here or online about it.

well I have and there are many conflicting opinions that’s why I posted myself and asked again.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Tidal Gardens - Coral Aggression & Placement

Just under a coral reef’s veneer of peace and tranquility lies a world of aggression and endless warfare between the constituent corals on the reef. In essence, everything on a coral reef is trying to battle for more real estate and the organisms on the reef developed specialized methods to...

tidalgardens.com

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Some Corals Can Be Downright Vicious! | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

It’s well known that coral compete for space both on the reef and in aquariums, but some species fight with no holds barred. I just returned from Reefapalooza to find all my tanks in great shape…

reefbuilders.com

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thread 'LPS Mesenterial Filaments?' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lps-mesenterial-filaments.513102/

 

[TGamble]

Some Corals Can Be Downright Vicious! | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

It’s well known that coral compete for space both on the reef and in aquariums, but some species fight with no holds barred. I just returned from Reefapalooza to find all my tanks in great shape…

reefbuilders.com

Thank you for the articles. They still answer no questions for me. My hammer isn’t expelling the filaments from its mouth, it’s from the base of its head. Is this a sign of expansion as one articles stated? Or is it bad that I’m not seeing it from the mouth and from the base of its head instead?

 

[shwareefer]

The "ball of white flesh" in the first picture is mesenterial filaments.

Do you have another example of mesenterial filaments not coming out of the mouth?

 

[TGamble]

Do you have another example of mesenterial filaments not coming out of the mouth?

Right, I’m wondering why they would be coming from the base of the head instead of the mouth and why that might be happening.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Again, all I'm doing is googling... You can do the same and find the same results.

Thread 'Euphyllia expert needed, What are these on my favorite coral?' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...d-what-are-these-on-my-favorite-coral.395324/

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Last one (pic "B")

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographic-and-schematic-representation-of-the-body-structure-of-E-ancora-A-E_fig11_230590146

 

[Rugops]

Is it possible if you could scape off one of them from the base? Its going to make it angry but its worth a shot. Some say that those oval things are actually the eggs of a flatworm or some sort of pest.

But I feel like it is the mesenterial filaments but I am just theorizing here.

 

[TGamble]

Is it possible if you could scape off one of them from the base? Its going to make it angry but its worth a shot. Some say that those oval things are actually the eggs of a flatworm or some sort of pest.

But I feel like it is the mesenterial filaments

Right, I did try brushing it off with a toothbrush once but as soon as I touched the tissue the coral closed completely so I stopped as to not stress it any more. I also read about flatworms and eggs or such. I also read how people have this and it is nothing. Is it worth possibly harming my coral just to scrape the sack off?

 

[TGamble]

Last one (pic "B")

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographic-and-schematic-representation-of-the-body-structure-of-E-ancora-A-E_fig11_230590146

This website is too scrambled for me to know what I’m looking at on mobile version.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

First world problems, I guess...

 

[TGamble]

First world problems, I guess...

Right, thank you.