Wild trachyphyllia

[kartrsu]

Can someone please share about what Trachyphyllia look like in the wild, what depths they are found, if they grow into massive colonies, how they propagate, how they are collected, and what makes it different than a wellsophyllia?
I have this beautiful rainbow trachy I got from Austin aqua farms and it’s one of my favorite corals for not even that much!

 

[flexiblewater]

That’s gorgeous

 

[thamnasteroid]

Trachyphyllia are usually found in inter-reef habitats and sandy bottoms, similar to Cycloseris, Heteropsammia, and other free living corals. They are generally slow-growing, and you won't see large colonies like you would see for Porites. Trachyphyllia start as a round, monostomatous polyp, which then pinch into a flabellate-like shape. They grow by elongating their wall, growing increasingly flabello-meandroid. Occasionally, in their adult form, their corallite walls will fuse, becoming meandroid. Propogation is generally not possible, as Trachyphyllia are one singular (but polystomatous) polyp. They are usually exported from Indonesia; the collection process doesn't require any cutting, as they are free-living. Historically, flabello-meandroid colonies were classified as normal Trachyphyllia while meandroid (shared-wall) specimens were classified as Wellsophyllia; however, due to genetic analysis, this classification has gone away, with both genera now being classified under one species: Trachyphyllia geoffroyi.

 

[thamnasteroid]

Some wild specimens:
Naviti Island, Fiji | Credit: Debra Baker

On an intertidal reef:
Port Hedland, Western Australia | Credit: the-reef-stalker, iNaturalist

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Some wild specimens:
Naviti Island, Fiji | Credit: Debra Baker

On an intertidal reef:
Port Hedland, Western Australia | Credit: the-reef-stalker, iNaturalist

I thought being a one polyp species, all trachyphyllia were wild caught similar to scolys and acanthos?

 

[kartrsu]

Trachyphyllia are usually found in inter-reef habitats and sandy bottoms, similar to Cycloseris, Heteropsammia, and other free living corals. They are generally slow-growing, and you won't see large colonies like you would see for Porites. Trachyphyllia start as a round, monostomatous polyp, which then pinch into a flabellate-like shape. They grow by elongating their wall, growing increasingly flabello-meandroid. Occasionally, in their adult form, their corallite walls will fuse, becoming meandroid. Propogation is generally not possible, as Trachyphyllia are one singular (but polystomatous) polyp. They are usually exported from Indonesia; the collection process doesn't require any cutting, as they are free-living. Historically, flabello-meandroid colonies were classified as normal Trachyphyllia while meandroid (shared-wall) specimens were classified as Wellsophyllia; however, due to genetic analysis, this classification has gone away, with both genera now being classified under one species: Trachyphyllia geoffroyi.

Some wild specimens:
Naviti Island, Fiji | Credit: Debra Baker

On an intertidal reef:
Port Hedland, Western Australia | Credit: the-reef-stalker, iNaturalist

Thanks for sharing the knowledge! I learned that these corals are also mobile. They can inflate and go with the currents kind of like how a fungia can unbury itself.