SPS Identification

hawkins enchinata maybe

 

I'm 90% certain it's A. echinata.

Actually, what you posted here is echinata; not speciosa.

And Hawkins is really A. turaki; not echinata at all.


Let me try to offer some clarity on these three, very closely related species.

A. echinata:

The corallites are fairly long and individual. The colony grows in very bushy-like branches. The corallites are the same diameter throughout their length, the tips of which are often colored brightly and differently from the length of the corallite.

A. speciosa:

The corallites are not as elongated as echinata, and often have more than one coralllite which branch off of them. Grow is more stag-like and not as bushy as echinata. The tips of the corallites have a slightly smaller diameter.

A. turaki:

The corallites are relatively short and grow in very close proximity to each other, nearly in a random-like fashion. Grow is a very dense ball-like entanglement of corallites; you cannot easily see the main branches. The tips of the corallites tapper significantly at the tips, and polyps almost never extend during the daytime.

 

Day time picture is attached. The polyps only extend at night. I've never seen the in the day.

 

Sorry.

 

Oh sure Hunter, throw another ID into the mix.

Wish I could keep those smooth skin acropora alive and healthy.

 

Congratz on growing this harder to keep coral to the size and shape it is in, whichever one it may truly be.

 

Thanks. Regardless of the species, I'm glad I can successfully grow the harder to keep sps.

 

It's certainly one of the three, but now your daytime picture makes me steer quite clear of echinata.

Looking much more turaki-like now, but still maybe speciosa. I really can't decide between those two now.

It needs to grow more.

 

My vote is toward turaki. If it was echinata it would have a bottlebrush structure by now. And with speciosa you would see "Radial corallites intergrade with axial corallites, but most are small, appressed and tubular or pocket-like."

 

If you're ever going to frag it, send me a message xD