What is this?

A friend of mind found this in Curacao. We were wondering what it was. Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks.

Ellen

A corallimorph anemone. Unlike the "typical" anemones these don't have big conspicuous tentacles. These have small ones scattered over the surface of the disk. Acropora is much better than me on cnidarians & might be able to put a name to it.

A friend of mind found this in Curacao. We were wondering what it was. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

Thanks.

 

Ellen

It is a Button Coral ( Scolymia sp. )

A corallimorph anemone. Unlike the "typical" anemones these don't have big conspicuous tentacles. These have small ones scattered over the surface of the disk. Acropora is much better than me on cnidarians & might be able to put a name to it.

um.....not exactly. This is actually a stony coral.

Ohh and there is an s in my username.....

William (aka acroporas)

Thanks for the correction(s) Will. You think I'd learn to just keep my mouth shut when it comes to cnidarians!

But nooooo.......

While I agree that it is almost certainly Scolymia, juvenile Lobophyllia frequently look similar and I wouldn't want to rule that out.

While I agree that it is almost certainly Scolymia, juvenile Lobophyllia frequently look similar and I wouldn't want to rule that out.

It is very easy to rule out Lobophyllia. It does not occur in the Caribbean...

D'oh!

My geography outside the Pacific (and even inside) sucks. So where is Curacao?

SW Caribbean, part of the Netherland Antilles.

So where is Curacao?

Leslie is correct about the location of Curacao. I'll also add a tidbit of information:

Lots of folks like to go there during the hurricane season (approximately June thru October) as it is outside the hurricane belt. Otherwise, when divers head for other Caribbean locations during those months, there's always the risk of getting blown out by a hurricane.

Food for thought

Leslie is correct about the location of Curacao. I'll also add a tidbit of information:

 

Lots of folks like to go there during the hurricane season (approximately June thru October) as it is outside the hurricane belt. Otherwise, when divers head for other Caribbean locations during those months, there's always the risk of getting blown out by a hurricane.

 

Food for thought

Not wanting to go 'off topic' - but the diving in St. Vincent is AWESOME in the summer months - and not wanting to tempt fate - we are way south too!

Kay

St. Vincent and the Grenadines