Daily Questions, Anem./Scler. ID  -- 02/14/09 Dear Crew, I was reading the daily questions today and wanted to offer my thoughts on one of the ID requests. In "Anemone identification 2/14/09", Bob suggested that the creature in the picture was a glass anemone. I don't think so--I think it's a non-photosynthetic stony coral that comes on a lot of live rock, like the one featured at the top of this page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/stonycoridfaq.htm Andy <Thank you for your input Andy. Will accrue. BobF>

Coral and Anthias ID    1/17/09 Hi, Can you please ID the coral and the Anthias? <I believe the this is a Dispar Anthias (Pseudanthias dispar). More here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anthiina.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anthiinFAQs.htm and related links in blue and the coral looks like Galaxea fascicularis to me. More here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/oculinidae.htm > Regards Beta M India <Cheers, Mich L in warm and sunny Los Angeles>

Hitchhiker... Single polyp, Scleractinian    12/10/08 I have a hitchhiker coral on a piece of Tonga branch I have been trying to identify it for a couple of months now. It has been in the tank for about 4 years but it has not grown much, I started to spot feed it and has now spawned into to 3 polyps. It looks like it might be Rhizotrochus??? <Mmm, maybe... definitely a Stony... my bet is on the genus Balanophyllia, a Dendrophylliid here. BTW, the emergence of such animals is testament to your good care> but I am not sure. It is very hardy from what I can tell, it has what looks to be a mouth in the center and the tentacles are white tipped and a light brown see-thru. See attached photos they are only about a 1/4 inch so it is hard to get the details in a picture. Thanks in advance Nick <Should you have one of these polyps perish Nick. Please do try, make some close up pix of the skeleton and send them along. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Thanks in Advance - 2 quick...? questions, Scler. recruitment   11/17/2008 Gang (think that covers both genders), <Okay> I have 2 questions I was hoping you could shed some light on. The first is a mystery that seems to be repeating itself. I first noticed about 9 months ago that I had what looked like 1 -2 small pink Pocillopora (sp?) <Mmm, Pocillopora?> polyps growing on my return. High up many feet from my colony. I thought it was odd. About a month or so after that I saw a path growing on two other rocks also a good distance from that. Again after some time I saw a patch growing on my glass of my tank on the opposite side of the other action. Now I have a 2-4" multi arm colony growing on 2 of my rocks, <Usually discoid...> on my return, a 2 inch disk growing on the glass and notice that at the water line along the back of my tank, on other live rock and on different sections of my returns I have new little growths... My question is what is going on? <Asexual repro.? Or... possibly another organism/species... phylum altogether> If it was already on the live rock, fine, but not the glass of my tank. If was displaced when I had an algae issue and was scrubbing rock a year ago, OK, but how is it spreading now? Is it reproducing? <Or just growing...> I can't imagine that. Could my urchins be spreading it? <Mmm, doubtful> I am at a loss... a happy loss, but thought I would ask. <A photo (or three) please... something close up, well-resolved...> My second question is star polyps... They are getting close to my corals and onto larger rocks I don't want to pull out... can I control them or should I get the out now before it is too bad? <Up to you... there are many instances of adaptation twixt Clavulariids/Stoloniferans and other Cnidarians... learning to "get along" well enough... but if it were me/mine... I'd keep them separated...> (ok worse.) Also where they are on big rocks can I fight back? Who will win when they hit my birds nest? <The Polyps> Tooth coral? <Here too> Lastly, since I am cleaning them out. I put some on the back wall of the tank (on the glass) it too is spreading. Should I get rid of that too? <Up to you...> Thanks, counting the number of question marks, I think I may have exceeded two.... Jim <Do read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/polypcompfaqs.htm Bob Fenner>