Identification Help

Mike.P · Jun 13, 2019

Could someone please tell me what this is? I bought a marine betta from someone locally, who is breaking down his tank, and he had it sitting in there... He was in a rush, and at first glance I thought it was a mushroom, he gave it to me for five bucks, with the rock it was on.

I put it in my invert QT when I got home, and brushed the top of it with my thumb to get some sand off; when I did that, I saw a puff of its neon green color go in the water, and the spot turned almost bare. By the texture, and lack of mouth, I'm fairly certain that it's not a mushroom. Is it a leather? Is it dyed, and that's what came off? Or is it something else entirely?

Thanks!

Ron Reefman · Jun 13, 2019

Excellent questions! And kudos for including both blue light and white light photos!

I don't know, but more info might help other do an ID. Is it soft or hard (as in, does it seem to have a skeleton)? It appears to have some small dark 'dots' or 'spots' on it. Are those just color or could those be small openings... maybe like a sponge has? Is the small column it's sitting on top of look like an old frag plug or a skeleton, or something else?

And lets call in the #ReefSquad for some help.

Dsnakes · Jun 13, 2019

The color brushing off is odd. I’m curious what others think it may be. Cabbage Leather?

DSC reef · Jun 13, 2019

I agree, a leather of some sort. Maybe a toadstool with its polyps retracted?

Mike.P · Jun 13, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Excellent questions! And kudos for including both blue light and white light photos!

I don't know, but more info might help other do an ID. Is it soft or hard (as in, does it seem to have a skeleton)? It appears to have some small dark 'dots' or 'spots' on it. Are those just color or could those be small openings... maybe like a sponge has? Is the small column it's sitting on top of look like an old frag plug or a skeleton, or something else?

And lets call in the #ReefSquad for some help.

It doesn't have a skeleton, that I can see or feel... It is pretty stiff though, when I pull up on the edge of it; think caramel or taffy that just came out of the fridge. The base looks like an extension of it, if there was a frag plug, it's grown around it.

It did look like there are a couple of little dimples on the surface, those may open up into holes, or maybe polyps will extend out, but I haven't seen it yet. I had to run this morning, so I only saw it after about 15 minutes of light. I guess I'll see what it looks like when I get home tonight, after a full day. It just weirds me out that the color came off, I've never seen a little green cloud go out into the water like that. lol

Here are a few more pictures:

Mike.P · Jun 13, 2019

Dsnakes said:
The color brushing off is odd. I’m curious what others think it may be. Cabbage Leather?

DSC reef said:
I agree, a leather of some sort. Maybe a toadstool with its polyps retracted?

So now that I'm out on the interwebz researching, instead of working (lol) I I think you're both right... Neon green cabbage and toadstool both seem to fit. I just had no idea that they were both THAT neon. That's natural? I know that leathers tend to be some of the most commonly dyed corals out there, so that was my first thought when that green puff happened. But maybe I just brushed off a bunch of the zooxanthellae?