Sweet Pickup!!!! Acan Maxima?

[143gadgets]

Polyps are very big 1.5"x1.5". What do u all think?

 

[benihana]

tough to say...I have never seen one with 2 mouths before? Any pics of it feeding? Either way it is Very Nice!

 

[bluegrass]

nice piece chris...I wouldn't have a clue on ID. It seems like these pop up on RC threads a lot and it always goes back to the Vernon book stating Maxima are only near Oman. With that said, there are more and more suppliers offering "a. maxima" but they are by no means experts at ID'ing. It's always a "lobo, scolly, maxima" debate. I'd love for some of the more well seasoned ID folks (like Chris at reefermadness) to chime in. I know he had a few listed as such several months ago, but again, I don't know what is marketing vs. true ID...

 

[Russellaqua]

I also have a piece that was sold to me as Acanthastrea maxima. It's an ongoing debate. I know the person that collected it had a CITES permit for only Scolymia sp. so I suspect that there are a lot of dishonest collectors out there looking to make a buck. I got mine as 2 heads for $150, but I'm fairly certain now it's a type of Scolymia sp. I've attached a pic of it for people to see. It's put on a 3rd head since I've had it. Got it about 5-6 months ago now.

 

[143gadgets]

My question is do scolymias have multiple mouths? The largest polyp has more than one. There is also a baby popping out the side. Which I thought would be unusual for a scoly.

 

[Russellaqua]

There are some species of Scolymia sp. that are colonial, though most live as individuals. As for the multiple mouths, I'm not sure that either Scolymia sp. or A. maxima would be expected to have that normally. It may be dividing. I'm not sure.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Honestly Acan Maxima's are found and are endemic ONLY in Oman ;)!! And for some of these suppliers to say that they're Acan Maxima just doesn't jive and mostly to hype the market with more ludicrous offers ... IMHO!!

Paul

 

[143gadgets]

When it came in from the supplier of was not marked. No name or anything. I'm just wondering what it is and the possibility of it being a maxima. I guess I'll kill the next poylp that pops out and take SMS pics of the skeletal structure. :)

BTW, there is a baby popping out the side of the largest polyp. Very similiar to how a lord would grow. Not sure if that helps.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

In fact just a couple of weeks ago I was at RandyO's store in Buffalo and he showed me something similar to the posted pix and the bi or tri-colors were really kewl. He'd mentioned that his supplier claims that it's Acan Maxima but who's to positively ID it .. that's the question?
The picture I took was blurry and crappy too(all lites were off that nite ... closing time) .. I'll try posting it when I do find it.

Paul

 

[Patwa]

looks identical to a particular Indo scolymia that have come in recently......they come in pretty much the same colours as your piece....blotches or speckles of teal, reds, maroons, dark reds, dark green.....they come in quite often, and usually very small, usually around 1" to 2" in diameter.

Reefraft, one lfs up here in Toronto who have brought these in (first ones to bring this into Toronto, afaik) called these polyps a. maxima as well.......and were asking 800 to 900 for the polyps......when they started coming in more often from other Indo shipments, they stopped calling it a. maxima and the price dropped a whole lot.

if it's got two mouths, it's splitting....but then again, no one has a. maxima, so no one knows.....and it's true, as Sea Munnkey noted, it's only endemic to a specific area of the world - Oman (see AIMS)

Zach

Polyps are very big 1.5"x1.5". What do u all think?

 

[Patwa]

also, a. maxima has extremely puffy mantles......sometimes extending to over TWICE the diameter (of the skeleton).

heck, my a. hillae puffs up like nothing i've seen before, and definitely not like a scoly.....my guess a. maxima has the same level of puffiness or more

Zach

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Only "REAL" way to know is to send it to me to find out. Its awesome, yours and Russell's!

 

[THE BEAUT]

That is a pretty sweet piece whatever it is.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

From RandyO's store .....

Picture courtesy of my Asian reefer bud ....(camera phone ...)

Another second collection of his as well.

Any clues??

Paul

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Man those look kinda like what I thought was a scoly of mine, but more people are telling me otherwise.

 

[Sea MunnKey]

Rev .... just Hold on A Minute!! They're called MAXSCOLY .. IMHO ... :hammer:!!

Paul