Austrailian Moseleya Coral?

[SereneAquatic]

There is a really beautiful oddity at our LFS right now. They were kind enough to place it on hold for me while I do some research on it... but I'm finding very little. What pieces I see say:

1. "Hardy"
2. Lower flow
3. Lower light
4. Can feed pieces of shrimp directly to mouths

I find it strange though that there is so little about them, especially if they're so easy to care for. It does say that they are fairly slow growers... but this thing is pretty big. Maybe about 6-7 inches in diameter and purple & green in color.

Does anyone have any experience with these or have a good reference I can look at on them?

[Mike Ordner]

Never had that coral but I would think care would be as any other normal LPS coral. Need to feed something small like mysis, not big pieces of what I call "shrimp". These corals feed more at night, so look when lights go out and see if feeder tentacles come out. Then it will accept food easier.

[birdfish]

I would say it doesn't look like the Moseleya I am used to seeing (probably latistellata). Which tents to have tall narrow walls between polyps, unlike the thick ones shown in the thumbnail above. Also the size and length of the areas between walls above is much larger than anything I have seen on Moseys. Which are like oversized Favia or so. They often look more like a Favia with tall narrow walls separating polyps. Veron has a good pic or two as always in his Corals of Australia and Indo-Pacific.

[birdfish]

Just to correct the above, I meant Favites, not Favia. Shared walls, not single standalone. I got my Favis mixed up momentarily. I'm all better now.

[SereneAquatic]

Originally Posted by birdfish

I would say it doesn't look like the Moseleya I am used to seeing (probably latistellata). Which tents to have tall narrow walls between polyps, unlike the thick ones shown in the thumbnail above. Also the size and length of the areas between walls above is much larger than anything I have seen on Moseys. Which are like oversized Favia or so. They often look more like a Favia with tall narrow walls separating polyps. Veron has a good pic or two as always in his Corals of Australia and Indo-Pacific.

I looked around at some other pictures and I agree... The walls on this coral seem much thicker and the wells are deeper. It tends to look somewhat like pictures i find of Goniastrea?

As we are getting started with corals I find myself frustrated by the number of seemingly irrelevant and unhelpful categories of corals. Misnaming seems common. Is there a reference guide somewhere that really breaks them all down? (Something less scientific than looking at it under a microscope?)

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[SereneAquatic]

Here is a better picture now that it's home. It's stunning.

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[rffanat1c]

Seriously....it is gorgeous


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