can you guys id this for me?

[CMcNeil]

i got this frag today and the guy wasnt sure of what it is called.it has a greenish pink blue rainbow color to it.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b239/checkinhawk/new%20tank%20pics/Picture787.jpg

[twon8]

maybe loripes

[matter1331]

I just attended a coral ID workshop put on by Eric Borneman, after which I've learned that without skeletal examination you cannot ID an acro. I had no clue how much is really involved with IDing corals, and acros are super difficult.

[twon8]

i agree you cannot id an acro with certainty, but with experience one can recognize differences, such as loripes having branches with one side bare of corallites, which i see on the piece above

[matter1331]

hate to say it, but even that isn't a good characteristic for ID. In the wild, reticulate evolution can make species from different locations look completely different. Certain factors such as flow, light, water chemistry, depth, etc. all affect growth, color, and branching. In our tanks, which are can truly be unique from tank to tank, structure and growth form becomes null and void as far as IDing an acropora.

[SueT]

I agree with twon8 after seeing as many sps corals over the years you can get the idea of what certain characteristics certain acropora have. Captive grown or what. You can tell an acropora millepora from a A. prostrata then on to other species. I don't think anyone is saying with 100% certainty but you can get in the ballpark.

checkinhawk, thats a nice frag and I don't know what it is....:D

[matter1331]

I disagree, I think that under certain conditions, and even with years of looking at acros, A. millepora and A. prostrata could be indistinguishable. The only reason I'm so adament about this is because I've seen pictures of corals that look dead on similar but are completely different species. During the coral ID session someone asked Eric whether or not you could accurately ID a living acro and he said the chances of it are around 0%. Just relaying what I've learned from more learned people than I.

[SueT]

and Eric B. has helped me a ton with my sps tank, so I know who your talking about and completely respect him and he knows it. I just happen to disagree.. certain sps corals are not going to completely loose all distinguishing characteristics so you cannot tell one from another.

[CMcNeil]

i believe the guy i got it from told me he thought it was a loripes.but he wasnt sure.

[matter1331]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. And I'm not saying that all sps are going to be impossible to ID, just more so with acropora and even more so with montipora. I actually got to sit down with a microscope and look at the distinguishing skeletal characteristics and the sheer amount involved is overwhelming. I still think that if you seperate acros into different evironments for long enough they won't look the same, and I've seen the pictures to support that.