dont forget about echinopora( like the ORA blue chalice) and i think the H. stunner is as well, and are an sps, unlike the others that fall into the lps family
Oy, this thread is all over the place with good/bad information. Okay, you got that one partially right. The Hollywood Stunner, Fire Echinopora, and the Blue Scroll types are all classified as
Echinopora lamellosa. Nick eludes to a
Lamellosa; this is the species name, not Genus. The Stunner and all other Echinopora are LPS, just like the other chalices, NOT SPS.
For Genuses, pretty much all of the chalices fall under Echinophylia (the most common), Mycedium (the 2nd most common), Echinopora, and Oxypora. I've never heard the of Pectinia sp. in common usage for a chalice. Now of course you have to keep in mind that within each Genus there may be more than one species, so there can be differences between chalices that are both grouped together as Echinophylia. Since neither the hobbyist community nor the scientific community, for the most part, really have the whole coral classification thing figured out, we don't usually bother trying to classify beyond genus. Even Genus-level can be problematic. If you want more specific classification than Genus, I think you're outta luck. Otherwise, if you can accept that, then you've gotten somewhere.
Now, how to tell the differences between genusus so you know where yours belong, well, it's kind of a moot point, but your best bet is to get a good book like Aquarium Corals by J. Sprung or Corals by Borneman and utilize the Genus descriptions/pictures to help you out. For the most part, Nick had it with the large, pronounced eyes with a sort of ridgy appearance suggesting a Mycedium species. The "Grape" WATERMELONS (K :tongue:) you posted would normally be grouped as an Echinophylia sp. The Mummy Eyes are also usually considered Echinophylia sp. The color patterns are irrelevant, and like I said, there are probably multiple "species" within this genus to which they might be assigned. There is also an Oxypora that Tyree made an LE some time back which is blue with pink eyes, but not all blue/pink chalices are Oxypora (like I said, forget the colors). Oxpora is the most similar to the Echinophylia in growth structure, while Mycedium is pretty easy to spot and is usually the least colorful.
As a part of your original question you were wondering about the differences between the mummy eyes, and based on your more scientific classification question, it's at best a question of species, but we don't know all the species, so they're basically all the same. The difference lies in the quality of color they show. The Original Mummy Eye has a green base and pink/red eyes and under moderately higher light tends to develop a sort of yellowy, mountain dewey color on the top with more emerald green at the rim. The Oregon and Cornbred's Mummy Eyes are usually just solid neon green and are the brightest and will also show both orange and pink eyes. The Emerald Mummy Eye is darker and is more foresty green and not so bright. They are all green bodied though. Mummy Eye has, at this point, been taken to mean anything with pink/orange eyes on a solid colored body, as was stated earlier. There is no right or wrong here, to some degree, when it comes to made up names, so it is what it is.
Another thing you have to keep in mind with Physical differences is whether you received a wild colony (or piece of one) or a captive propagated fragment. I've seen a number of chalices with large, moundy eyes from wild shipments that once in captivity grow in a smoother manner and the new eyes are not so "moundy". This does not include Mycedium so much, but to a degree. I'm sure flow in the wild is different and encourages different growth adaptations, whereas in captivity those conditions change and so do the corals. Also, your reference to spiky (skeletal) looking chalices suggests more to me that you are seeing stressed chalices that are not fully puffed up. I see lots of normally smooth chalices that will show their septa and look spiky when stressed, but once the flesh inflates again, they look smooth. Chalices that refuse to puff up and continue to look spiky usually prove to be fussier and take longer to acclimate and begin growing.
So, that's my $1.00.
