Pectinia baby or something else?

[exnisstech]

I've had this piece coming up on 7 years. It's had ups and downs and has grown a bit. I was looking at it tonight and saw this little growth with tentacles and a mouth. I think it's a baby but I don't remember seeing this before. Maybe a parasite?

 

[JGT]

Hmm, interesting. Appears to be different than a Pectinia but hard to tell.

 

[Tahoe61]

What a gorgeous colony.

The bud looks like it might have a skeletal structure. I would take the wait and watch path.
Physically it doesn't look like a parasite.

 

[penfold2]

I don't know how closely the polyp resembles the Pectinia polyps, but I've had a couple corals reproduce through budding that looked sort of like that. Here's a Favia of the Gods budding just before it detached.

 

[thamnasteroid]

I think it's the oral disc/polyp extending out of its "socket" (possibly something bad), or it's possibly eating an anemone

 

[exnisstech]

Whatever it is it was gone the next morning. I guess it will either show up some where or never be seen again. Such are the little mysteries in our tanks.