Please help me identify this coral

[merkurmaniac]

Here is my pic, polyps extended.

http://www.merkurxr4ti.com/fish/softie.JPG

[RyanSweatt2004]

It looks just like a type of thick branching sinularia that we Aquaculture at AquaCorals in ME. I have 2 frags of it that are Identical to this and a parent colony that is about a foot across and eight inches tall. It is way too comon for this sinularia to be labeled as Cladiella sp or colt coral which it is not. As it grows it will grow more thick firm branching fingers a lot like how a staghorn acropora will do. Some do have different growth variations where they will grow more like a tabling acropora. They tend to spread across rock work and have many main trunks that branch out like a dense stand of trees. Its a great coral, doesn't seem to have a very strong sting towards other corals. It has a dense flesh which makes fraging it very easy. Frags can attach within about a 10 days. I keep mine under 250 watt halides and they grow very well.

[scuba guy ron]

that looks just like a hitchiker i had on a zoa frag that now growing like crazy. Mine is not a softie but rather SPS. Its growing like crazy now. I had it ID'd as a rare carribean sps. heres a link to the thread. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1895241

[merkurmaniac]

Ron,

This is a flexible, leather type coral, defo not an SPS. I could frag it easily with a pair of scissors, and the whole thing would slump to the side when pestered by mushrooms. There is no stony skeleton in it for sure.

[merkurmaniac]

Thank you Ryan. Your desciption of its behaviour are pretty much dead-on.

[scuba guy ron]

Ron,

This is a flexible, leather type coral, defo not an SPS. I could frag it easily with a pair of scissors, and the whole thing would slump to the side when pestered by mushrooms. There is no stony skeleton in it for sure.

couldnt tell from the pic.... you can definitely see the resemblence though.