Not sure what upset this guy, but made for some cool pics

[PedroYoung]

About had a heart attack when I did my morning review of the 75G and saw a ton of light spots on the Orange Peel Chalice today. Closer inspection showed it was stinging cells (I think nematocysts, but please correct me if I'm wrong). Made for some cool pics though, moved camera position and focus point. Last pic is a crop, everything else is full frame.

upset orangepeel by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel-2 by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel-4 by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel-5 by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel-6 by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel-7 by Peter Young, on Flickr

upset orangepeel crop by Peter Young, on Flickr

Hope y'all enjoy.

 

[Reeffraff]

Cool pics. What you're seeing is actually the menenterial filaments being extruded from the gut. Usually done in response to a stressor such as another coral approaching, getting bonked while cleaning glass/other maintenance tasks and some people think corals can respond like this as some sort of a feeing response (but I am not convinced of the latter).

 

[TriggerFinger]

Oh no! Is something too close and they are fighting? I do agree, made for great pics

 

[Reeffraff]

From the pics it doesn't look like anything is too close. If you have hermits (or any other crabs) they can sometimes walk across a coral and irritate said coral with their sharp legs. Shrimp can sometimes do it as well especially of they are trying to pull some food out that the coral caught. Sometimes a fish will take a curious nip and sometimes corals just seem to do it every once in a while as a way to kind of flush everything out (they don't have a one-way gut). I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes a regular/persistent occurence.

 

[PedroYoung]

it has plenty of room around it, my guess is either a snail ran over it (no crabs or shrimp in the tank) or a fish pooped on it. My yellow tang will occasionally take a nip of an LPS coral, just bored I think. Thanks for the lesson @Reeffraff, I knew I wasn’t quite right, but couldn’t remember the terminology.