Hitching Euphilia

[willyboy]

look at original post. I updated with new pictures.

[willyboy]

bump

[c est ma]

Wow, lucky you!!!

 

Great update.

 

I got a hitch hiking plate coral once, and have heard of others getting these, too...

 

--Diane

[willyboy]

there are actually two of these on the same rock. One is bigger than the other.

[sleepy]

torch of frogspwn

[willyboy]

i can't tell for sure but it looks more like a fs than a torch.

[willyboy]

Boy have they grown!: Another update. You can see how much it has grown since August 7th in the original post (that I have updated). You can see the other one in the top left corner of the picture. Go to my tank thread for a size comparison in reference to the tank. It's probably 2-3 inches across. The oral disk (?) is about an inch across. I don't think it's a Euphilia any more.

 

[willyboy]

I know this is even more rare but could it be a Catalaphyllia? Sounds far-fetched they do share some similarities. I need some help and expert opinions. Where's Diane? Could still be a torch. wow, idk

[c est ma]

I know this is even more rare but could it be a Catalaphyllia? Sounds far-fetched they do share some similarities. I need some help and expert opinions. Where's Diane? Could still be a torch. wow, idk

 

LOL! Hey, corals are something I do NOT know well. Except for just a very few...

 

I agree that it is beginning to resemble a Catalaphyllia, though...

 

And whatever, it's still just so cool!--how wonderful to get an update! We should all be so lucky...

 

 

--Diane

[jem]

looks close to an ane for me...

 

check it out..

does it have a calcerous (is tt hw u spellit) skeleton?

[willyboy]

I can't see the base to see if it has a skeleton or not. It hasn't moved since I found it in January in that spot. If it was a nem, what kind would it be?

 

Three candidates: Euphilia, Catalaphyllia, or obscure nem.

 

RUN DOWN:

 

The reason I don't think it's Euphilia is the way that the tentacles spread out. However the tips of the tentacles persuade me the other way.

 

I recently looked at some Catalaphyllia corals and it does superficially resemble them as well. But elegance corals are said to be hard to keep. I don't have really strong lighting or feed the tank anything, much less spot feed this "thing".

 

It doesn't have great prey capture ability like you would suspect a nem to have. I have never seen it "eat" anything. It has not moved from that spot since I found it. I've never seen a nem that looked like this.

 

It is still very much up for debate.

[dsoz]

try feeding it some brine/myssis/krill/plankton/raw fish/squid/shrimp/whatever. Make it small enough that the mouth can open up and swallow it. Maybe if you feed it, it will grow faster and you will be able to tell what it is.

 

Just don't give it blood (unless your name is Seymour from the little shop of horrors). "Feed me Seymour! Feed me!"

 

dsoz

[willyboy]

I have some mysis, will do tomorrow as long as I remember. I don't how how much faster it can grow.

[LoBo]

looks exactly like a torch, except all the torches ive seen grow on branches.

[willyboy]

I tried to feed it last night and it didn't do anything. It wouldn't grasp the food. It didn't even react. I'm not thinking its a nem.

[willyboy]

I was pulling out some of my zoa frags a little while ago to look at the growth and I was in a touchy kind of mood so I put my finger on the thing and was able to feel a definite calcerous skeleton. SO, it's an LPS fo sho, just what kind. If I hadn't pissed it off with my finger I would have taken some pictures to show how much it has grown in a month and 10 days. The mouth area/oral disc has probably grown about 10-20%. It is now starting to seriously sting the zoas in the bottom right corner. I'm beginning to wonder how I could move it (somehow separate it from the rock) or maybe move the zoas, which attached to that rock.

[c est ma]

Glad to hear more about this! Look forward to pics!

 

Well, that's definitely progress. Hitching LPS--SO COOL.

 

You say you don't think it's Euphyllia because of the spread, but I wonder if young ones growing in isolation (and "unstalked") might tend to? Maybe dshnarw can tell us...

 

Does it eat, yet? Seems very strange that any sized LPS wouldn't. My little hitcher plate eats when it's the size of a pencil eraser or less.

 

Looks like there's a lot on that rock to deal with if you try to move something--yuck.

 

Congrats on the new datum.

 

--Diane

[willyboy]

Within the last month the coral skeletons have grown quite a bit and are visible when they are fully extended. I'll try to get some pics today when I get home. No, it hasn't shown any sort of feeding response. I've tried to feed it a couple times.

 

There is a giant toadstool leather that is about 8 inches tall and in diameter.

[c est ma]

Within the last month the coral skeletons have grown quite a bit and are visible when they are fully extended. I'll try to get some pics today when I get home. No, it hasn't shown any sort of feeding response. I've tried to feed it a couple times.

 

That is really surprising! I guess--actually I've never had a Euphylliid--I just thought that all LPS were pretty eager eaters.

 

There is a giant toadstool leather that is about 8 inches tall and in diameter.

 

Ooh, leathers can be a bit moody, IME. Wonder if the hitcher's skeleton will grow enough that you can eventually just snip it off the rock?

 

Also, on the identification--there's no reason to believe that the E. spp available in the hobby constitute the whole family. And given the general state of coral taxonomy, there's no reason even to expect that all possible spp have been identified yet...

 

--D

[The Propagator]

Its a torch coral.

 

They can drop babies as well as bud off. They usually start out life in tiny rock crevases just like you found it when they drop the babies too.

[c est ma]

'Bout time you dropped in on this thread, Prop!

 

--Diane

[The Propagator]

Eh... the way some of these threads go its best to stay out until they wind back down a bit LOL!!

[willyboy]

Yeah Daine, you bring up some interesting points. I had suspected that it could be a Euphyllid closely related to the torch (Euphyllia glabrescens). It certainly could be an E. spp not commonly encountered in the hobby. I do have some pretty bio-diverse LR. Check out my tank thread to see the LR.

 

Yes, leathers can be moody, especially when they get big. This one is huge. Look in my tank thread and make it five inches taller. Imagine what it does when it flops over. I'm just lucky it never flops over on the Frogspawn. I should frag it but that's another thread entirely. It dominates ever other coral in that tank (visually and size-wise). Way too big for a 20g.

 

At the rate it is going (I don't even dose calcium 'cept for wc's) it should be largest enough to clip off within 6 months.

 

lol thanks Prop. How sure are you?, not that I don't trust your id or anything, really, much respect dude.

 

--Will

[The Propagator]

99.9%

The last photo in the set you posted on the 1st page gives it away clear as daylight.

[c est ma]

Hey, WB, just spent a half hour or so reading your thread--don't know why it took me so long to check it out! Very nice work--I left you a comment.

 

As to Props--he's a man of few words (in the ID forum, anyway) but everytime I've had my doubts about one of his succinct replies, I've ended up having to admit he knows what he's talking about. (And I get a little bit of research done, as well. ) Sounds like he's "seen it all." (Hi, Props.)

 

So when he says something I would certainly consider it pretty close to the gold standard. But your hitcher is still small--lets see how it grows up. Whatever species it is , it's pretty darn cool.

 

--D

 

PS: And keep those updates coming...