ѕqυιяяεł'ѕ 10 gαł αgα

[squirrelieygrrrl]

i don't think ID'ing it is that critical at this point. that's most of the importance of sclerites with coral biologists. i don't agree with their absolute faith in the "coral bones" being the determining factor in species/genus identification anyways. (just my pers view)

 

i'm more interested in the process of the sclerite expulsion (assuming they are sclerites). i've heard of sclerites being expelled (mostly by lobophytum and various -nephthya types). i think i've read that they can expel it thru their polyps but i'm not sure that's the preferred method or even why it occurs.

 

sinularia and lobos can lose sclerites from their bases as they "move". sometimes sclerites are dropped as a by-product of splitting/fission/reproduction. sometimes they're exposed from predatory attacks.

 

some sclerites are actually waste pellets from coralivores as they consume their target coral (or it could be undigestable sclerites leftover from the coral meal too).

 

i disagree with borneman's body forms generalizations. sure, some species will tend towards some form, e.g. some sarcos always grow up into toadstool forms (imo all sarcos will pass thru a toadstool form at one point or another in their life but not necessarily keep that form forever). body type can be influenced significantly by the coral's environment and age. so imo it may take a long time or a short time before you can be more confident in your ID'ing of that coral.

 

 

thanks again,

 

mostly i was trying to id the coral so i could figure out if this behavior is 'normal'. i have been trying to track down a picture of a leather coral sclerite to see if it looks like what my one has. so far no luck. they do look exactly how the sclerites at the base appear, as part of them are exposed on the back from where the rock was chiseled away.

 

do you know of some where i could look up various coralivores?

 

yes i agree with you there, as his classifications were a tad vague. i was also thinking the same thing about my piece being such a young one it would be hard to do(and has proven to be so) untill it has grown some, and decideds to extend its polyps. i have found a place for it that it likes though, where it will partially extend them, just enough to see the tentacles (i guess thats the right term) on the tip of each polyp.

[tinyreef]

mostly i was trying to id the coral so i could figure out if this behavior is 'normal'. i have been trying to track down a picture of a leather coral sclerite to see if it looks like what my one has. so far no luck. they do look exactly how the sclerites at the base appear, as part of them are exposed on the back from where the rock was chiseled away.

you might try some of the regional marine bio schools or research org (e.g. Tel Aviv Univ., GBR, Scripps, etc.). but on the net, there's very few sources open to the public. most of the hardcore info is locked behind faculty/student/research/paying libraries or databases.

 

some info is strictly on print form. i've been lucky enough to obtain some publications from verseveldt, tixier-durivault (it's in French though >.< ), and others. i'm still trying to obtain other copies of research but these things simply aren't NY Times bestseller prints. so they can get pricey and extraordinarily hard-to-find.

 

but on top of that, i've found a lot of the old research (unsurprisingly) aren't as accurate (imho) or detailed as i would like or even could do myself. it's simply that technology and first-hand/IRL/on-the-field examinations will pwn book or second-hand research.

 

do you know of some where i could look up various coralivores?

i don't think there's a lot of research on coralivores other than a few "showy" ones, e.g. crown-of-thorns star, some fireworms, red mites/fleas. there are many coralivores though. the crustacean-types can usually be handled by cleaners, e.g. six-lines and some shrimp. the worms seem to be more difficult to control ime. you essentially have to dig them out of the coral's flesh, sometimes with a knife and fork.

 

yes i agree with you there, as his classifications were a tad vague. i was also thinking the same thing about my piece being such a young one it would be hard to do(and has proven to be so) untill it has grown some, and decideds to extend its polyps.

everyone argues and claims whatever. including me.

 

imo, most of the corals we see are still juveniles or their morphology is stunted or changed byour artificial environments. i've seen corals change over the years back and forth!

 

sps and lps are relatively easy to ID, ime you'll know pretty much for sure what they are within a few weeks or months.

 

softies ID can be elusive for years. standard morphological ID'ing comes up short when the coral goes outside the "standards".

[squirrelieygrrrl]

lol!

 

wow, well in a nut shell then i guess you could say im SOL! i do realize that the scientific community is still rather wishy washy in regards to pinning down actual ids on species, or even keeping species classified under certain names.

 

well if i do ever manage to track down an id on this leather, i will certainly let ya know.

 

on the subject of the sclerites? is it a yea? or a nay? possible expulsion? furthermore the main reason for my searching high and low on the subject is that im curious if its gonna make it. although it has survived this long looking unhappy, thats gotta count for something in regards to its hardiness. i did stumble across some info that stated that some leathers can take literal months before having polyp extension. so i dunno, maybe i should just quit fretting about it and let nature take its course.

 

thanks for trying to help me out with this leather. you have been most informative, and have given me a lot to chew on.

 

~squirrel

[squirrelieygrrrl]

ok,

 

heres just a quick update on the new corals i received. the tank still isnt nuffin to write home about, but its mine and i like it none the less. some of the corals didnt come in the greatest condition, but im sure they will bounce back and grow with a little tlc.

 

and now for the pics. i will take a fts later because i cant seem to take a decent one with out the glare from the window.

 

edit: for some reason on this post the words came through twice..... odd.

[Phixion]

Wow, all of the new stuff looks great!

[Lizzie1324]

Hey! Haven't stopped by in a while!

Can't wait for the FTS.

Those new corals look great, I love the deep green/purple colors on that hammer!

Lookin' gooooddddd.....

[lilredneckman]

Nice!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

awwww thanks guys!

 

that hammer was a wysiwyg from liveaquaria. the other three were captive grown. i think i have finally decided on a direction for my tank, i like the idea of nothing but corals from micronesia/indo pacific. however i also really like the idea of nothing but captive grown species. so far the only two things in the tank that are wild caught/collected is the pistol shrimp (alpheus bidens) and the hammer. i think those two specimens being my favorites is enough for me from the wild. now all i need to find is a (or a couple) wildly colored yuma(s), and then i will just kind of let things grow out. i tend to agree with the general consensus that a bunch of tiny frags looks unnatural. so thats my story and im stickin to it! i really appreciate the words of encouragement!

 

~squirrel

 

ps: fts coming later on tonight. i re did the aquascaping so it looks vastly different than before.

[Phixion]

Eager to see the new FTS!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

fts as requested! nuff said.

 

 

and i slipped in a actinic shot of the nepthea cuz the green is soooo wildly bright. that shot dosnt even really do the color justice though. even under daylight it almost looks like it has a neon green light in it. hence the name i guess

[lilredneckman]

Looks great!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

thanks lilredneckman!

 

its always nice to get a little pat on the back. if you have a tank thread id love to look at it. i try to make a point to look at peoples threads that look at mine. fair trade i suppose.

 

edit: lol! nevermind, i just realized that the pics in your sig are the link to your tank thread. DUH!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

well i found a sweet colored yuma that i just couldnt resist. it has a blue base (quite electric blue), very bright orange/redish polyps (if thats the right term for the bumpy things ) and a neon green mouth. it should be here tues, so i will post some pics when it comes and is fully acclimated. lol, i get so excited when new stuff is coming, so i thought id just share that with you all. i know, im a nerd.

[Phixion]

Looking great!! Can't wait to see pics of the yuma.

[squirrelieygrrrl]

aw thanks phixion,

 

what do ya think of the new aquascaping? i think its better than the first few versions.

[Lizzie1324]

New aquascape is nice, and that Yuma sounds awesome!

I still love that hammer....totally jealous.....

Looks great!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

aw thanks lizzie,

 

once the hammer grows out a bit i may frag some of it, so if your interested in the future i would be more than willing to share the love! yea i cant wait to get that new yuma, it goes right along with my indo-pacific sort of theme.

[Lizzie1324]

That would be pretty awesome.

We'll have to hook up some kind of trade in the future. Right now I don't have anything of value to frag except zoa's, I have LOTS of zoa's.

And I have no clue how to ship corals. But I'm sure I could find some info online.....

[squirrelieygrrrl]

lol, same here lizzie! but heck its an excuse to learn right? i dont have anything worth fragging yet either. though i like entertaining the notion of that being a possibility!

[Phixion]

The new aquascaping is indeed very nice!

[squirrelieygrrrl]

well,

 

my order came, but it wasnt what i ordered. i seem to be having bad luck when it comes to shipping lately. first off, the bag had a hole in it so it had completely drained in the Styrofoam cooler. the bag was waterless. surprisingly though the yumas were still alive. i wasnt able to acclimate them properly so i got them out of that empty bag and just tossed them into the tank. ive heard that yumas can be particularly finicky so maybe it will survive. now onto the subject of it not being what i had ordered.... what i had asked for was this

 

this is what i got, there are about 10-15 polyps on a branch type rock, totally the wrong color, and waaay larger of a piece than i wanted. if i had to guess how much this piece would be worth it would be probably in excess of a hundred bucks. score (kind of)! they are going to let me keep it, and they are also going to ship out the right coral. so i guess i got lucky. now for some pics of this "oops" coral. there not the greatest as i am in a bit of a rush, i have to send out shots of it to live aquaria so that they can make sure it is the wrong thing. also i have a dinner with some friends in about an hour....yikes! im running late!

 

~squirrel

[squirrelieygrrrl]

ok so i just did a semi count of how many polyps there are, and i counted at least 20. although there might be more. yeesh, what am i going to do with such a large piece....

[EnjoiFish]

Hey a hundred bucks worth of free coral isn't that bad of a deal! If you really don't like it or it doesn't fit your tank well, I'm sure there are some reefers here that would love to take it off your hands.

 

Great aquascape by the way.

[squirrelieygrrrl]

lol, this is true enjoifish,

 

it could possibly be worth even more than what i had originally estimated. yumas can be kind of pricey. now if it survives after its water less shipping, and no acclimation.... lol, if it does i might end up breaking apart the rock and divvying it up. its pretty large at 7in by 3 in. i guess we will see.....

 

thanks for the compliment on the 'scape.

[Lizzie1324]

Wow, sucks about the mishap, but they are still really pretty

I'd be more than happy to take some of such a large piece off your hands

My comp wont load the original picture you ordered, but they sounded really cool.

I guess it's a mixed blessing ,lol.

But I'm sure all will be resolved in the end