Acan Maxima or Scolymia?

[MilnReef]

Hi
Just purchased this coral from lfs and some discussion as to what it is ... the lfs came to the conclusion that it was an acan maxima but I lean towards it being a Scolymia. Only thing is I have other Scoly's and this one's feeding tentacles are different in that the whole body flattens and turns inside out on itself (see photo's).
What do you think ... many people claim rare Acan Maxima which are really Scolymia?
Here's my Scoly feeding -


And here's photos of the new coral -

 

[Afonso]

Have you got a pic of the base? Could be some sort of trachy to?


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[Sounduser]

I didn't think you could buy maxima?

 

[MilnReef]

Not that I'm an expert ... Acan Maxima are reputed to be restricted to the sea off of Oman and exports are banned.
That's not to say there have never been any in the trade at some point - or that there are definitely no other sources.
Definitely not a trachy ... it's attached to a piece of flat rock so impossible to see it's base. When disturbed it shrinks to the size of a small plum about 35mm in diameter ... through the day it inflates to about double that size ... about 65-70mm or around two and a half inches in old money

 

[Afonso]

Looking at it again it could be a máxima it’s very similar to the pics on google, really nice looking to


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[mitch414]

Looks like a cynarina to me. I have one very similar but different colours. It's of the scan family but has a sub species all on its own. It's out flat and huge during the day to maximize on light intake but then at night the feeding tentacles come out just like yours.

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[chopsie]

I think it’s on of those mini scolymia, I’ve kept them over the years and never really found out the scientific/Latin name

 

[bs0u20a2]

Have you got a picture of it closed up. Acan maxima has a flat skeleton which sits almost flush with the rock its living on like the more familiar acan species. If it has a more 'standard' single polyped lps skeleton with a distinct stand alone morphology independent from the rock it was sourced from, then it's more likely scolymia cubensis.

I think acan maxima is a bit of a scape goat term for acan/lobo/scolly/cynarina looking things that don't conform to a 'typical' morphology. I think we see true acan maxima very rarely.

Nick

 

[MilnReef]

Am also dubious of acan maxima claims - still think it's a type of scolymia .... although cynarina did cross my mind (just doesn't look like any image on the net). It does look almost identical to this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmortons/2971634074/
Wish I could find any night shots to compare against. Do you have any Mitch424? Certainly not mini as it's about 3" across at the moment.
Anyhow it's iridescent under blue lighting and not a solid colour like a red scoly.
Really pleased with it as it is very different.

 

[mitch414]

Here are pics by day and one of the whole tank to give you an idea of scale. At peak light it's around 8 inches in diameter...nothing mini about it! Of the million pictures I've got, none are at night sadly. So I'll wait until lights out tonight and try to get one for you with the feeders out. I'll post it as soon as I manage to get one for you.

As you can see, it's also not a block of colour like the scoly but definitely translucent and iridescent. They come in a vast array of different colours so it's not necessarily a surprise that you can't find one similar to yours.

The more I've looked at yours, the more I'm certain it's a cynarina. The shape, texture (with the raised ridges at intervals) is exactly the same as mine. I'd bet my house (or my tank!) that it's a cynarina.

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[MilnReef]

Thanks for posting the pictures - I would say that photo 3 is very similar albeit a different colour of course. Love to see a photo with it's feeder tentacles at night. The raised ridges at different sizes across the whole mass is also very similar.
I can go with cynarina quite easily - as I say .... it's a beautiful coral when expanded.

 

[mitch414]

Ok, so we have a night time/lights down shot now with feeders well and truly out. It's currently having a feeding frenzy as well because one of my peppermint shrimp just spawned about a million baby peppermints right as I took it...it looks almost alien as I post this update!

It's not the best shot but considering I used my Huawei mobile phone camera on night mode (which meant I had to hold the camera still against the tank glass for 50 seconds in pitch black and no lighting!) I'd say it's a bloody good image.

In feeding mode it's almost identical to yours...it was your feeding shots that convinced me that you are the proud owner of a cynarina

Tips...mid flow, mid light, eats like a horse. Will take misys/krill/brine etc etc all day long. Stunning coral and very enjoyable to keep. Good luck!

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[MilnReef]

Great photo in the circumstances - thanks for going to so much trouble.
Took the opportunity to watch some Youtube videos late last night and was left still confused
Definitely looks like yours but looks like the videos of Acanphylia rather than Cynarina (not seen the water filled vesicles that are prevalent on them and certainly not as transparent).
I would say it's what you have - but are you sure yours is Cynarina and not Acanphylia?
Also thanks for the care tips and how wonderful that you have peppermint shrimps spawning and free food
Had peppermints before but had to whisk them out when one went for my stylo after running out of aiptaisia

 

[bs0u20a2]

I'm not sure the creamy coloured coral in the second lot of pictures is cynarina, I think it's indophyllia macassarensis.

Nick