Plate coral ID

[SlasherZ]

Hi all, I bought some live rock today and some of the pieces were epoxied together, so I broke them apart and this coral was kinda just... Wedged in between the rocks. I thought it was just a fungia skeleton or something at first, however, after looking closer it's alive!

I've never seen one thats totally white like this unless it were bleached and/or fully retracted. It's definitely got a lot of skeleton showing. Quite pretty under actinic light though!

Pictures under whites and blues. Thanks in advance!

 

[Lavey29]

Have no idea but pretty cool under blues

 

[SlasherZ]

Right? Kinda looks like a little UFO

 

[RockBox13]

My guess is Cycloseris costulata. The other possibilities I think are Cycloseris platelliformis, cyclocites, & vaughni. Outside chance it’s Fungia spinifer, but being wedged in the rock may have affected the growth form, but the skeleton looks like it’s in good shape, you can see the fine teeth on the septum (taller ridges) too.
What’s really cool is that you have a green tentacle with an orange rim and neon orange mouth! Depending on how the face colors up Cycloseris costae are known to color up extremely well. I’m not saying it will be like this, but the possibilities are there. Nice job rescuing a coral and probably a very nice one!

 

[RockBox13]

Orange mouth, orange rim and green tentacles usually works out pretty dang well on a Cycloseris.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I don't see any immediate bare skeleton, just a bit bleached and retracted, a little bit good water parameters and adequate flow/light and it should color up in no time! I wouldn't immediately put it under strong light as it's probably used to dark conditions from in the rock, maybe start in shaded areas as not to shock it. Cool find!

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Also would definitely appreciate some mysis in order to give it some energy back, though I'd wait for its polyp extension to come back first

 

[SlasherZ]

It's mouth was open so I figured it was hungry and spot fed it a bit of chopped mussel and phyto before bed last night, didn't realize I'd need to wait for it's polyps to come out to feed, Oops!

Also would definitely appreciate some mysis in order to give it some energy back, though I'd wait for its polyp extension to come back first

 

[SlasherZ]

Orange mouth, orange rim and green tentacles usually works out pretty dang well on a Cycloseris.

These are beautiful!

Is the purple there it's flesh then? I'm confused as to why mine is so completely white, is 'coloring up' something they do as they grow up, or once it recovers from being jammed in those rocks it'll get it's colors back?

Thanks for all the info!

 

[SlasherZ]

I ended up putting it in my 13.5 fluval AIO because my DT has horseshoe crabs in it right now and I figured they would make the plate unhappy being crawled all over and pushed around... But the fluval only has its stock light that it came with, do ya'll think that light will be strong enough for this rescue?

 

[Reefing102]

Pretty cool find! I think it’ll color up nicely. Ad mentioned? I’d try to get it in a shaded area if possible to not light shock it

ETA: The reason yours is so white is it bleached out due to lack of light. Normally it would have some form of brighter colors.

And I think the stock light will be fine. I have acans under my stock light Evo and they’re doing just fine.

 

[SlasherZ]

Thanks! Yeah, I've scooted it further under an overhang so it's chilling in the shade. Going from inside a rock to a ton of light wouldn't be good at all!

 

[RockBox13]

The entire top surface is covered in flesh and down around the edges a bit to the point where the flesh wouldn’t get any light or be on the sand. The purple area is what I refer to as the face on some corals and anemones. If you put it in the smaller tank just be sure water quality is as good as possible while is still stressed. Make pH and salinity as equal as you can. If the temp in your place is 65F and the tank is 77F a small container can get cold fast when you are acclimating it.

 

[encrustingacro]

Cycloseris cf cyclolites

My guess is Cycloseris costulata. The other possibilities I think are Cycloseris platelliformis, cyclocites, & vaughni. Outside chance it’s Fungia spinifer, but being wedged in the rock may have affected the growth form, but the skeleton looks like it’s in good shape, you can see the fine teeth on the septum (taller ridges) too.
What’s really cool is that you have a green tentacle with an orange rim and neon orange mouth! Depending on how the face colors up Cycloseris costae are known to color up extremely well. I’m not saying it will be like this, but the possibilities are there. Nice job rescuing a coral and probably a very nice one!

I wouldn't jump to a species-level ID so quickly; most Cycloseris species are poorly delimited from each other. Also C. patelliformis is a synonym of C. tenuis, and F. spinifer was moved to Lithophyllon. I wouldn't say it's L. spinifer, as that species is pretty rare in the wild.

 

[RockBox13]

Cycloseris cf cyclolites


I wouldn't jump to a species-level ID so quickly; most Cycloseris species are poorly delimited from each other. Also C. patelliformis is a synonym of C. tenuis, and F. spinifer was moved to Lithophyllon. I wouldn't say it's L. spinifer, as that species is pretty rare in the wild.

I getcha, and you seem like my kind of Reefer. Not afraid to speak your mind and disagree. Come with facts. It’s just out of habit that I flip through Corals of the World. It’s on the table all the time. It’s getting too outdated, but I made notes about Favia and Acanthastrea and Lobophyllia. For some reason no one wants to say Homophyllia though. I guess my intent is to hopefully accustom others to the Latinized binomial names. When they shop online and see the binomial and understand the need for scientific names because of CITES and what is and isn’t allowed for conservation of endangered species, endemics and the natural habitats. I tend to list what my guess is and other possible species, even if there’s not much chance so that someone gets that sense of getting colder or hotter based on comparing smaller distinctions. I don’t mean for it to be a definitive declaration. I listed cyclocites as a possibility as well. I do need help with a few LPS names and reclassifications for some real in betweeners that I have pictures of. They’re mostly in that Lobo/Acan area and one unidentified that there was a Reef Builders article on a long time ago. Actually, a bunch of things, some Platagyra vs. Paragoniastrea too. Let me know and I can send you pics or start a thread. I couldn’t find a better picture of mine right now. This article is from 2020 and my picture is from 2014. I’m not Jared Burbank to be clear as well.

This Mysterious LPS Coral Has Eluded Identification | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

One of the things that keeps us continually fascinated by aquarium corals, and stony corals in particular, is the challenge of identifying some of the more obscure species. That’s why we were so…

reefbuilders.com

 

[RockBox13]

This is the better one and no one has ever really seen it. shhhh, keep it under your hat.

 

[SlasherZ]

Phew I'm way over my head with this conversation at this point but I'm enjoying it.

I do have another question for ya'll regarding my mew plate coral if you don't mind! I've never kept one before, and I'm doing as much research as I can... I guess I wanted to ask if there's anything I need to keep an eye out for with its recovery. How long is too long before the polyps come start coming out? Thanks!

Ps. @RockBox13 that corals of the world book sounds like a great thing to have around, but looking online I see a few different results with similar names, do you know the author of the one you have?

 

[encrustingacro]

I getcha, and you seem like my kind of Reefer. Not afraid to speak your mind and disagree. Come with facts. It’s just out of habit that I flip through Corals of the World. It’s on the table all the time. It’s getting too outdated, but I made notes about Favia and Acanthastrea and Lobophyllia. For some reason no one wants to say Homophyllia though. I guess my intent is to hopefully accustom others to the Latinized binomial names. When they shop online and see the binomial and understand the need for scientific names because of CITES and what is and isn’t allowed for conservation of endangered species, endemics and the natural habitats. I tend to list what my guess is and other possible species, even if there’s not much chance so that someone gets that sense of getting colder or hotter based on comparing smaller distinctions. I don’t mean for it to be a definitive declaration. I listed cyclocites as a possibility as well. I do need help with a few LPS names and reclassifications for some real in betweeners that I have pictures of. They’re mostly in that Lobo/Acan area and one unidentified that there was a Reef Builders article on a long time ago. Actually, a bunch of things, some Platagyra vs. Paragoniastrea too. Let me know and I can send you pics or start a thread. I couldn’t find a better picture of mine right now. This article is from 2020 and my picture is from 2014. I’m not Jared Burbank to be clear as well.

This Mysterious LPS Coral Has Eluded Identification | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

One of the things that keeps us continually fascinated by aquarium corals, and stony corals in particular, is the challenge of identifying some of the more obscure species. That’s why we were so…

reefbuilders.com

Yeah, you can send me some pics and I’ll try to ID them. The coral in the article looks to be a pachysepta, but the coloration does seem a little off for that species. As for COTW, Veron’s species concepts were flawed, and many photos in the book (and website) are misidentified. I would recommend either Indo-Pacific Corals by Joe Rowlett (this one has more recent nomenclature but still is outdated; it also covers much more than stony corals), Coral Finder by Russell Kelly, or just browsing through iNaturalist (both Coral Finder and iNat are more for genus-level identification than species, and the latter might have a few misidentifications as it is community-curated).

 

[encrustingacro]

Phew I'm way over my head with this conversation at this point but I'm enjoying it.

I do have another question for ya'll regarding my mew plate coral if you don't mind! I've never kept one before, and I'm doing as much research as I can... I guess I wanted to ask if there's anything I need to keep an eye out for with its recovery. How long is too long before the polyps come start coming out? Thanks!

Ps. @RockBox13 that corals of the world book sounds like a great thing to have around, but looking online I see a few different results with similar names, do you know the author of the one you have?

I don’t think the COTW books are in print anymore, although there is a COTW website. As mentioned above, I wouldn’t recommend using it as it uses outdated taxonomy (Veron doesn’t like molecular/genetic reclassifications), and there are also many misidentifications.

 

[SlasherZ]

Cool! I'll look into those sources you posted just now instead then, thanks!

I don’t think the COTW books are in print anymore, although there is a COTW website. As mentioned above, I wouldn’t recommend using it as it uses outdated taxonomy (Veron doesn’t like molecular/genetic reclassifications), and there are also many misidentifications.