what is the difference between a montipora and an acropora and an encrusting coral?

bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Acro & Monti are two different Genus of SPS corals.
Encrusting just describes how an organism grows. It means it grows over something else like a rock.
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member
Acro & Monti are two different Genus of SPS corals.
Bang is correct. Acropora and Montipora are two Genus of coral. Both, however, are in the family Acroporidae.
As Bang also stated, encrusting is a growth form of a coral.
Graham
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member
what are the differences between the monti and acro besides the genus?
The most noticable difference is that the genus Acropora has corallites (Both Radial, Axial, and Incipient) on the outside of the coenosteum rather than within the coral (like the genus Montipora).
Graham
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member
Acropora spp. -- Notice the corallites on the coral (Or, in other words, the "cup" which contains the coral polyp).
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member

Originally posted by skilos1
don't think that is a stilosa, as they are real spiny. It's just a m. digitata. I have one exactly like it in my tank. The stilosa is an encrusting monti with spiny nodules as i have read on another coral index site.
Chris,
You're absolutely correct about the stilosa. Unfortunately I got M. stilosa and M. samarensis mixed up. The coral is actually an ORA M. samarensis; when the polyps are retracted, the coral is bright green. Unfortunately, the polyps just happen to be very bushy when given high light, so the green can't really come through. I apologize for the confusion :)
Take Care,
Graham
 
yellowtail

yellowtail

Active Member

Originally posted by SPSfreak100
The most noticable difference is that the genus Acropora has corallites (Both Radial, Axial, and Incipient) on the outside of the coenosteum rather than within the coral (like the genus Montipora).
Graham
what is a corallites (Both Radial, Axial, and Incipient? also when you say the cup that holds the polyp do you mean the almost "pimple" like thing that purtrudes from the coral?
 
spsfreak100

spsfreak100

Active Member

what is a corallites (Both Radial, Axial, and Incipient? also when you say the cup that holds the polyp do you mean the almost "pimple" like thing that purtrudes from the coral?
I guess you could call it a "pimple like thing that protrudes from the coral." As long as you understand what you're reffering to, you should be okay. See below regarding to the other areas of the coral.
Originally posted by Kip4130
I have heard incipient explained several ways... the one that sticks with me is the beginning coralite... the one that grows into the main-center branch of the entire colony.
That's incorrect. The Incipient corallite is the beginning of a new branch. The incipient axial corallite is formed from a radial corallite. The radial coralltie first becomes exert and tubular -- this takes the form of an axial corallite. However, because no radial corallites are present at this time, it's reffered to as an incipient axial corallite. Over time the new axial corallite starts to form radial corallites. Over the period of a week or two, the incipient axial corallite will have turned into an entirely new branch.
Below is an attached picture of an A. formosa. You can see the distinction between corallites. 3 types of areas of the coral are circled; in red, we have the axial corallite. In green, we have a radial corallite. And, in yellow, we have an incipient axial corallite. Note the tubular structure. Eventually radial corallites will start to form which will therefore become another branch on the coral.
oh... and i am still under the impression that grahams is a digitata... the samarensis that i have seen have long fingers that dont branch much until the top
I'm not completely sure about my identifications, either. I do not wish to break off a branch just yet to be varified for my own satisfaction. It could be a digitata, but from the green coenosteum I'm guessing it's something else -- such as an M. samarensis.
then again... water flow, lighting, etc has a lot to do with morphology.. and with a small specimen... it is tough to exactly ID
Exactly. On the "other' board, someone posted of a coral ID back in March. No one knew what it could be, including myself. Several months later the user posted back of the coral grown out. The growth looked nothing like the coral when it was originally bought. The corallites, growth, and color were completely different. It just shows how conditions can easily alter the corals growth and coloration.
i wish mine were grn underneath... i have one that is white.. and one that is orange on orange.... digi? samaren? i dunno... i call them both orang digis
To be completely honest, I don't really know either. It seems as though everyone refers to smooth branched Montiporas as Digitata's, despite the fact that tens of other corals fit those descriptions.
Take Care,
Graham
 
yellowtail

yellowtail

Active Member
ok one last question....(i think).what is a good defentition of what a radial corallite is?.........
1.)radial corallite-...........
 
attml

attml

Active Member
coenosteum - Skeletol stucture between corallites
Radial Corallite - a corallite on a side of a branch as opposed to an axial corallite on the tip of the branch
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top