Live coral?

[argan]

Many coral skeletons take on a greenish tinge after all the flesh has decomposed or been eaten. They go green, then brown, then coralline can take over. The coloration is from different strains of bacteria. My buddy gave me his lobopyhlia skeleton and a hammer skeleton, and both had same color.

if it were alive but without zooxanthellea it would be whitish and flesh still visable.

[Brent F]

Originally Posted by argan

Many coral skeletons take on a greenish tinge after all the flesh has decomposed or been eaten. They go green, then brown, then coralline can take over. The coloration is from different strains of bacteria. My buddy gave me his lobopyhlia skeleton and a hammer skeleton, and both had same color.

if it were alive but without zooxanthellea it would be whitish and flesh still visable.

Thanks - this explains things perfectly. I guessed they were skeletons but couldn't figure out why they were such an intense green inside with no algae on the outside.

[Todd]

It looks like sponge to me. Live, but not coral.

if it were alive but without zooxanthellea it would be whitish and flesh still visable.

What about pink / blue sponges? Are they photosynthic?

[Todd]

And by photosynthetic I mean 'have symbiotic photosynthetic algae'