ID-this acro?

[GaryP]

Unfortunately that's all we get a lot of times from an LFS. Also, and equally unfortunately, its often hard to identify an acro just from a pic.

My best guess would be a samoensis or something like it. That's just a guess. I'm sure someone else will come along with a better guess. It does have some nice color though. Good snag on that one.

Gary

[Tim Marvin]

I like to stick with acropora also. There are so many out there it is very hard to name them all. A lot of names may not be right either. If I have to guess though I'd say Tenius or samoensis because it looks thick, blunt, and very close polyps. That is a small frag though so it may change dramatically when it grows out some. You really need to be a focused marine biologist studying SPS to have a decent idea of what most of these are, as a lot of species look very simular.
At an rate, I'd buy it if you can pick it up for $30 or less. It looks like about a 1 inch frag.

[JimD]

My guess would be A. Humilis because of the spiral coralite structure. A. Samoensis coralites are more virtical in structure.

[astrong]

The problem with identifying Acros definitively is you need a microscope, a library of ID keys and boiling acid to get that pesky tissue out of the way. I think, "well uhmm its an Acro" is realistic. Borneman has an article on ReefCentral where he posts pic of 15 acro skeletons and asks, "Which is the A. millepora?" Its harder than it looks. Especially considering how many "milleporas" are floating around this hobby. Plus you get into different growth forms of the same species depending on light intensity, flow, etc.

I would suggest Veros's "Corals of the World" to ID it. It is grouped by relative relation, so similar corals are placed close together, opposed to alphabetically. Its pretty good for hobbyists, even though it has a disclaimer in the beginning that its not supposed to be used as a taxonomic key. But it can get you relatively close.

[Tim Marvin]

I like to stick with blue acro, purple acro, green acro, and so on.....LOL.....

[MikeDeL]

I like to stick with blue acro, purple acro, green acro, and so on.....LOL.....
Thats alot more specific then I get sometimes.... When talking with the misses I always have to say the blue one in the front.... or the orange one in the back... :lol:


Mike