tentacled critter id

[ole farny]

the green thing on top of the zoas and to the right of the feather duster.

any ideas? i'm thinking a bubble tip maybe? it hasn't moved, though, but its grown. cup coral?

 

[greybolt03]

Looks like a baby plate coral

 

[kschweer]

Most likely a Majano anemone. They are a pest anemone similar to aptasia.

 

[greybolt03]

Can you pull the rock out to see if it has a skeleton or if it’s a polyp. That will help with id

 

[ole farny]

i do think it might have a skeleton, but i'm going to do some more investigating when i get home.

i did have a gorgeous heliofungia in there for a while, but i lost it last summer due to an ato pump getting stuck on while i was away for an extended vacation.

i added this rock after that, and it does appear to be attached to the rock, so i was kind of ruling a plate out.

most majano pics i've seen look much thicker tentacled, but the color seems to match majano with brown and green translucency.

 

[DangerDave]

It looks like a majano, aside from the skirt around it....maybe they're unformed tentacles?

 

[joetbs]

definitely a baby fungia. Let it grow and pop off and then the stalk will continue to grow more babies. Will grow faster if you target feed it.

 

[DangerDave]

I hope @joetbs is right for you. I'm in the process of losing an awesome heliofungia to coral warfare. Nothing would make me happier then to find one pop up like you just did....

Dave

 

[kschweer]

I would poke it with something and see how it reacts.

 

[ole farny]

thanks everyone, i'll keep y'all posted on the poking

 

[joetbs]

I hope @joetbs is right for you. I'm in the process of losing an awesome heliofungia to coral warfare. Nothing would make me happier then to find one pop up like you just did....

It is very rare for Heliofungia to bud like Fungia. Regular discs (Fungia) do this by a means of acanthocauli. Once heavy or large enough they detach and become free living corals as we recognize them. It is a pretty distinct hitchhiker, definitely not a majano.

 

[ole farny]

so it has a skeleton.

a couple top down pics where you can see the skeleton, one of which was after poking it.

and a side view after poking it.

 

[DangerDave]

That’s awesome!