What kind of Leather coral is this?

[moose12]

I got two small frags of what the LFS called Finger Leather. I have tried to identify it, I think it is a Lobophtyum sp.? At first I thought it was a Sinulaira, but looking through other pictures I think I am wrong. Both pieces are doing well, shedded the second day I got them, now are fully open and have been the past week.

 

12-gallon

1 x 32W CSL Smartlight (soon to be two, or possible 1x96W Quad)

1 Rio 50

1 Rio 90

17 lbs. of Fiji LR

[tinyreef]

from the looks of the polyps and base it looks like a fragged sarcophyton. (a partial lobe of one) sarco polyps are generally longer but that isn't a definitive characteristic, especially without scaling in the pic.

 

the coloration looks off to be lobophytum but that could be the pic's lighting/exposure or it could be a lobo as the lfs claims. did you see the mother colony that it was fragged from or was it a trade-in?

 

is it really firm or just leathery firm? (the former being lobo and the latter being sarco ime) the best way is just to wait it out and see what general shape it takes. lobos seem to be more sensitive and suspectible to parasites ime but other than that they have similar needs.

[moose12]

i'm thinking trade-in, i didn't see the parent. i can post some better pics tonight, especially for scale. I didn't think of a sarco at all, so it may be a lobe from a toadstool leather? The polyps do resemble that, i had one in my old 55-gallon about 10 years ago. thanks for the help and i'll get some better pictures up once i get away from work

[Foogoo]

i agree...looks like a young sarcophyton frag to me.

[moose12]

Here's a pic with a little better scaling.

[moose12]

Foogoo thanks for the response, if it is a baby sarco, i can't wait to see to see grow out.

 

here's a close-up of the other frag.

[tinyreef]

i dunno, now from that angle (from the appearance of the already forming finger lobes) it looks like a lobo. X)

 

the touch test is pretty accurate. sarcos 'give' a little more when you pinch (not too hard as they will 'juice' :x ). altho the polyps now look like they're normally all over (lobo) instead of it just being a slice of a sarco lobe. gimme a life line.

[moose12]

tiny - thanks for the advice, do you want 50/50 or to phone a friend? I just feel better knowing that I wasn't losing it about the type. Anyways I guess I have to follow that damn patience rule and wait and see what happens. I'll also try the touch test tomorrow. When I first placed them, I would say lobo from the touch, but hopefully in a couple of months I'll have a better idea. so don't be surprised to see another "What IS this?!?" post in July.

 

--thanks again