Dendro, Sun coral...the same? What's What? *Update: Tubastrea or Dendrophylia?

[Mr Cob]

MAASTARDS....

Tubastrea (Sun Coral) or Dendrophylia (Dendro) {Captain Jack's pic}
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZinkOI4zI/AAAAAAAAAJw/myI4sXOFH6k/s400/IMG_0337.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZiGWYhSKI/AAAAAAAAAJI/lksUNlTZhYA/s400/IMG_0341.JPG




I'm a little confused as to the difference in the common names for Sun and Dendro corals and searching google only made me more confused. Anyone care to shed some light and possibly post pics of the different types of corals for Dendrophylliidae and Tubastreas...I'm pretty confused.:confused: I get the same pics for both when I search for them.

I'm also curious because I got a "Sun Coral" from Captain Jack and I'm thinking it might be a Dendrophylliidae which is known as a Dendro and not a Sun Coral or are they the same thing....!!!


Argggg....

[DrMark]

They are very different.
Sun coral (Tubastrea faulkneri) are a very low light coral. Melev has something on his site about them. They are cheap to buy and hard to keep happy. Pictures easily found. Here is a link to some:

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/Sun-Coral-Orange_366_62_4_4.html

Dendrophylia are a different situation. I have some and trat them much like my duncans. They are a medium light lover. Are open all the time, although more under actinics. I feed them. They are great. Very beautiful and easy to maintain.
Here are mine from a month or so ago:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/IMG_0319.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Thanks Dr. Mark...so what's this:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48660

I got some of these from Captain Jack in a trade.

Also, the link you posted looks like the same coral of the pic you posted but without the polyps extended. The coral I have from Jack looks exactly like your pic when the polyps are extended and it looks like the saltwaterfish. com link when the polyps are closed.

Still a bit confused inless the coral Jack and I have is a Dendrophylia and not a Sun Polyp Coral.

[Mr Cob]

I'm thinking Jack and I have Dendrophylia. Like yours Dr Mark, the polyps are out every day, mostly during Actinic lighting. It seems the true Tubastrea faulkneri Sun Coral rarely has it's polyps out. But they all look so similar. There has to be a more scientific way to ID these versus how they act.

Captain Jack's pic...we both have this: What is it?
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZinkOI4zI/AAAAAAAAAJw/myI4sXOFH6k/s400/IMG_0337.JPG

[DrMark]

Not sure what it is you have exactly, look more like duncans to me than anything else. Colors are stragnge not sure if it is the picture or the lighting. Sun coral has a colorful base and shorter "stalks".
Here is the link to melev, where they look like the other link I posted:
http://www.melevsreef.com/suncoral.html

mark

[DrMark]

I defiantely dont think you have Tubastrea

[Mr Cob]

I defiantely dont think you have Tubastrea

So it's safe to say that this is probably not a Sun Coral...which is good news considering it can now be of more value and it is possibly a Dendrophylia or even a Duncan?

Thanks for the time Dr Mark....I appreciate your help!!!

[Mr Cob]

Dang man...to me they ALL LOOK THE SAME!!! I just spent some time on the melevsreef link you sent. Ummmm still not sure.

MAASTARDS....

Tubastrea or Dendrophylia? {Captain Jack's pic}
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZinkOI4zI/AAAAAAAAAJw/myI4sXOFH6k/s400/IMG_0337.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZiGWYhSKI/AAAAAAAAAJI/lksUNlTZhYA/s400/IMG_0341.JPG

[Rychek]

I have observed Jack's coral during the day (when the lights were on) and it was always closed. It had to be coaxed with some lights out time to open up and eat.

[justahobby]

Sweet find! To me Dendro's are yellow. Sun coral are orange. I have a sun coral (freebie with a purchase) and it is open mostly evening and everytime food is near. I wouldn't say sun coral are tuff to keep since mine has reproduce with very little feeding. If my camera had a controllable focus I would send you a pic. But the link provided above does justice.

[Mr Cob]

I have observed Jack's coral during the day (when the lights were on) and it was always closed. It had to be coaxed with some lights out time to open up and eat.

Mine (from Jack) is open all the time during my actinic only lighting...

So what do you think it is?

[Captain Jack]

This link has a comparison picture:
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=22125

I got it from Kristy (MAASTARD) last October, who got it from some other maastard. That being said, I still don't know what I would classify mine as. It really is colored like the picture, yellow, not orange. But it seems to act like a suncoral in that generally: it will be closed most of the day. It will open somewhat when food is out. And it will open fully after the daylights are off.

[Mr Cob]

Jack they are definitely yellow. The entire body is yellow. I wish we could find some specific info to nail an ID on this thing.

[Mr Cob]

Wow...my MH come on at 4pm and it's 6pm and I just got home to find the 3 polyps open...so I fed them...now they are half open digesting the food.

Doesn't sound like a sun coral to me...inless it's getting trained to open in the day because it knows there is food???

[bexarhunt]

Not sure if this is the same coral but around that time, Kristy purchased a very similar sun coral colony from me. I purchased it as a sun coral from AD. I had it for about a year and had it trained to eat during the day as I spot fed it during feeding time. I stayed open all day as a result for about 6 months but then I stopped spot feeding it and it went back to it's old ways of opening up only at night. I felt I did not have the time to continue to train it to do what I wanted so I sold it to Kristy. But like I said we may be talking about a different sun coral all together. Kristy can probably shed some light as to whether it is the one she purchased from me.

[Captain Jack]

Bexarhunt, I'm sure you are right that it is the same coral. I've decided it's Dendro. I'll change the thread name in the frag program.

[Kristy]

Kristy can probably shed some light as to whether it is the one she purchased from me.

Allow me to enlighten you... :lightbulb:(sorry but the puns in this thread have me chuckling). Yes, this is the sun coral that we got from bexarhunt. It did pretty well for us, reproducing new polyps happily, but then we rearranged the rockwork and our GSM clown decided that this frag must be punished and knocked it over repeatedly. It was beginning to look less happy about the time that CaptainJack expressed interest in it and the rest is history.

By the way, Jack, seems to be doing great in your care. Looks very healthy!

[gjuarez]

Thats not a dendro, dendros have longer tentacles, if you can call them that. Looks more like a duncan, but duncan's grow more closely together. Doesnt really look like a tubeastra... I think you might have a morph or a new species. Great find!

[gjuarez]

Here is a pic of a dendro i found, check out the longer skirts/ tentacles:


http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/501/FavDendro.jpg

[gjuarez]

Sorry for all the posts, but i think this might actually be some sort of duncan morph/hybrid, those are pretty pricey!!

[Mr Cob]

Sweet! Your pic didn't show up...?

[gjuarez]

really? I can see it just fine, but just in case here is the link.

http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/501/FavDendro.jpg

[Mr Cob]

really? I can see it just fine, but just in case here is the link.

http://www.nano-reef.com/gallery/data/501/FavDendro.jpg

Okay I see it now. I wish we could get a solid ID on this thing but maybe that's a good thing. Captain Jack has it in the Pay It Forward program too.

[Mr Cob]

Thats not a dendro, dendros have longer tentacles, if you can call them that. Looks more like a duncan, but duncan's grow more closely together. Doesnt really look like a tubeastra... I think you might have a morph or a new species. Great find!

Dr Mark's dendro he posted up has short tentacles like the picture of Captain Jacks....

???

[ErikH]

MAASTARDS....

Tubastrea (Sun Coral) or Dendrophylia (Dendro) {Captain Jack's pic}
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZinkOI4zI/AAAAAAAAAJw/myI4sXOFH6k/s400/IMG_0337.JPG
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SYZiGWYhSKI/AAAAAAAAAJI/lksUNlTZhYA/s400/IMG_0341.JPG




I'm a little confused as to the difference in the common names for Sun and Dendro corals and searching google only made me more confused. Anyone care to shed some light and possibly post pics of the different types of corals for Dendrophylliidae and Tubastreas...I'm pretty confused.:confused: I get the same pics for both when I search for them.

I'm also curious because I got a "Sun Coral" from Captain Jack and I'm thinking it might be a Dendrophylliidae which is known as a Dendro and not a Sun Coral or are they the same thing....!!!


Argggg....


It's fo sho a dendro. I got one from him tonight and I love it. I'm hooked on them now.

Oh I have some firecracker sun corals. That's why I wanted those dendros! They are awesome!

[DrMark]

Dr Mark's dendro he posted up has short tentacles like the picture of Captain Jacks....

???

Earlier I took a pic of my "jumbo dendros" and you will be surprised with the difference in polyp extension later in the day. The earlier pic is from early in the day. Unfortunately, I wont get it posted here till tomm.
mark

[Mr Cob]

It's fo sho a dendro. I got one from him tonight and I love it. I'm hooked on them now.

Oh I have some firecracker sun corals. That's why I wanted those dendros! They are awesome!

LOL...I'm hooked too! Send me all your dendros...LOL!!! Sun corals...duncans...I want them ALL!!!

So Erik votes Dendro "fo Sho!"

Erik, can you share why it's for sure a Dendro and not a Duncan or Sun Coral?

Thanks for everyone's help.

Dr. Mark, yours are beautiful.

[ErikH]

It's not a duncan, no way. Not a sun coral either, promise.

DEWD, YOU'RE GETTING A DEN.

[ErikH]

Oh, dendros have a larger diameter of the circular disc. Think of it like a Paly to a zoa

[DrMark]

I still think it is a duncan.
Here is a pic of my dendro as it looks later in day, all lights still on:

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish2/IMG_0584.jpg

Here is a pic of one of my colonies of duncans, the other colony is a little greener:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/mseanwilson/Fish/007-copy.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Dr Mark, those pics are amazing. Great looking corals.

Erik and Mark do you guys own all 3... sun coral, dendro and duncans? I'll be getting some various sun corals in the next few days so it will be nice to compare them.

The tentacles on each head do not look anywhere close to the length on Dr Mark's dendro. Erik, I want to believe it's a den....

DEWD! What the freeeeeek is this coral!!!!????

[Mr Cob]

Oh, dendros have a larger diameter of the circular disc. Think of it like a Paly to a zoa

Ok, sounds easy....but I don't have anything to actually compare it with....so I have some sun corals coming in soon....will compare it with them.

Thanks for everyone's help. Captain Jack will be happy to give each of you free frags! LOL -jk!

[ErikH]

Well, after looking all over the place, I am going to say they are the same. I wish an expert would figure this out! I have orange and yellow. Neither like to stay out during the day, but they do sometimes. Sounds like a sun coral, but then wth is the difference? If I fed DTs every day in a drip, I could keep them open all day long. Someone needs to shine the light here....

[SoLiD]

Ask Matt at Austin Aqua Farms. He knows his LPS.

[SoLiD]

PS. They look more like Duncans to me. :angel:

[Mr Cob]

So, some say Sun Coral, some say Dendro and some say Duncan. The funny thing is that even the people that have had both or all three and have seen them to compare are having a hard time giving a solid ID.

ID: To be determined...

I vote... "Hybrid something"

P.S. I dose live phytoplankton and zooplankton so it makes sense that mine would stay out most of the time because they are feeding. Erik pointed that out for me.

[ErikH]

My orange firecrackers are out right now, and the yellow one is in. I turned on my MJ12 to kick up some detritus in my sump to feed my blueberry goro, and they did not come out. My duncans were always out, and grew long calcerous branching skeletons, these do not. It came out last night about an hour before lights out, typical of a sun coral. So the inquiry is still on in my book. Once the actinics come on, I'll try and get some macros.

[gjuarez]

That was a nice comparison pic from dr mark, i still think it resembles a duncan. Tell ya what, its your coral and your find so you get to name this species unless of course someone comes up with the actual name. Suggestion: COBophyllia

[Captain Jack]

Maybe we should start one of those voting threads. It would be interesting to see how the votes weigh in.

I'm leaning toward hybrid suncoral.

And then we can post it on wetwebmedia, see what Fenner says, and give out prizes to the winners.

[Mr Cob]

That was a nice comparison pic from dr mark, i still think it resembles a duncan. Tell ya what, its your coral and your find so you get to name this species unless of course someone comes up with the actual name. Suggestion: COBophyllia

haha..."Cobophyllia"...how about "Captain Jack's hydrophylia" or just "hydrophylia"....LOL!


Maybe we should start one of those voting threads. It would be interesting to see how the votes weigh in.

I'm leaning toward hybrid suncoral.

And then we can post it on wetwebmedia, see what Fenner says, and give out prizes to the winners.


Yeah...I tried adding a poll to this thread but I guess once you already start a thread it won't let you add a poll.

[ErikH]

They came out lights on earlier. I was working on the tank all day, so tomorrow I will post pics.....

[Mr Cob]

They came out lights on earlier. I was working on the tank all day, so tomorrow I will post pics.....

Awesome. I'm not dosing phytoplankton and zoo for awhile to see if they stop coming out. Mine are out about 60% of the time now while lights are on.

[Captain Jack]

Pictures after feeding lots of mysis. 2nd picture is after lights out. these guys are stuffed!

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SY0W922V7LI/AAAAAAAAAKU/w7xWOxZq5Wo/s288/IMG_0354.JPGhttp://lh3.ggpht.com/_cLqr7lRuK6k/SY0W-gLncXI/AAAAAAAAAKc/Md_sVphA0Bg/s288/IMG_0360.JPG
<http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=jack.mcewan&target=ALBUM&id=5296937380787703217&authkey=d2frtScVJ04&feat=email>

[ErikH]

I got these two pics tonight the first is Jack's the second is my firecracker (IT CAME OUT BADARSE!)

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x315/erikharrison/Fish/2-6-09%20Macros/DSC_0076Large.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x315/erikharrison/Fish/2-6-09%20Macros/DSC_0075Large.jpg

[Mr Cob]

BADARSE is right!

[Captain Jack]

Here is the question and answer from WetWebMedia. I sent it along with a good picture. The reply was less helpful than I hoped, but probably no less than I should expect. their replies are within < >

Coral Identification 02/08/09
Hi,
I have a coral, which I have thought was a Tubastrea (Sun Coral), but some
people think it might be a Dendrophylia (Dendro)
<Just for clarity of those reading, both Tubastrea and Dendrophyllia are in
the family Dendrophylliidae. It's confusing I know. In any case, this
coral could be either... it's pretty much impossible tell these apart
without looking at the exposed skeleton under a microscope.>
or Duncan because it looks fairy different than the common sun-corals I've
seen.
<It doesn't look like a Duncan to me.>
I'm guessing it's just a less-common variety of sun coral, but there has
been quite an extensive discussion about it amongst some local hobbyists as
I've started to trade out some frags. (It is doing very well) It seems to
act like a sun coral, naturally only coming out at night, unless I entice
it out during the day with feeding. This picture is after feeding a bunch
of mysis, and after lights out.
<I do hope it's a Tubastrea sun coral... the Dendrophylia are much more
difficult to care for...
Best,
Sara M.>

[DrMark]

you are right, not much more info.
although I totally disagree about the dendros being difficult.
i am sticking with sun coral as the ID

[Rychek]

++Sun Coral.

[Mr Cob]

I GUESS IT'S SAFE TO SAY IT'S A Dendrophylliidae ....lol!

[secretweapons22]

Does anyone have any Sun Coral variations that they would like to get rid of or frag? Id be interested.

Thanks
Andrew

[Big_Pun]

pm me

[OrionN]

Sun corals also are very easy, but they require feeding often, like every few days.

[ballardjr2000]

Ok i am by no means a expert. My experance with sun corals are from diving on the toki maru (WW2) shipwreck that was covered with them. the only time we were able to view the sun coral was at night when it came out to feed. It was a bright orange color. Very cool to see. during the day you couldn't tell they were there unless you got close. at night it was light the ship was a fire.

[Big_Pun]

mine open all day, I feed them once a day misis and krill even twice sometimes it's easy my biocube is shallow and I just shut off pumps and spot feed