sps ID please

[cuz]

don't really want to remove it, I'll try for a better pic but its at the center of a corner bow front so good pics are hard to come by!!

[cuz]

here's a try at another pic

[Myka]

Hmmm...those little lighter specs on the surface...are those polyps or?

[reefermadness]

It's either a monti or some type of LPS...is it fleshy to the touch? It definately is not an acro.

[cuz]

Originally Posted by reefermadness

It's either a monti or some type of LPS...is it fleshy to the touch? It definately is not an acro.

It's not fleshy it's definately stoney. And yes those are polyps poking up.

[ScubaSteve]

Ok, this is a toughy. If there are definite polyps growing at the top of each of the bumps on the top surface and definite polyps growing at the tips of each of the bumps on the growth edge then I'd lean more towards a. efflo (acropora tend to grow from their polyps where as monti's tend to extend their edges or tips without growing from a definte corallite). Here's an acro with a similar growth for but you can see the corallites which the "bumps" grow from (link). There are a few acros that can start growing like what you have, A. solitaryensis is one of them.

If the growth edge is relatively polyp free and the top surface has polyps growing between the bumps (verruculli I think they're called?) then it's definitely a montipora of some sort, though god knows what kind. Could be m. undata, but I don't think it is. Could be a Ly Seng?

I think you might just have to narrow it to which family it's from first.

Do you have an info like where it's from, how long you've had it (how old is it), etc that could help us narrow it down?

[cuz]

It's definately only got polyps on the established area. There isn't any polyps on the outer"growing" area. It does look very similar in style to the undata in the last link.

[Myka]

Considering those are polyps on top I'm going to say it is most likely an SPS. The way those polyps are located (in the divots instead of on the top of the bumps, and not on the growing edge) lead me to believe it is a Montipora. That is all I am confident on without a real good macro photo. My best guess right now is either M palawanensis or M verrucosa, but yours looks a bit different than these that I have seen in person. I'm no expert SPS identifier though. Have you tried on Reef Central? They have some real SPS gurus on there!

[cuz]

lol, i did try RC as well as NR but got more replies and solid info here way faster!!

[Myka]

Ya, getting replies from someone who knows what they are talking about on RC can be tough. Lots of newbies, and the old timers don't have time to sift through the 5 million new posts everyday.