Can anyone identify this one?

elFloyd · 01/08/2010, 04:50 PM

This is a single polyp I have have for six months, stands about 1,5" tall when inflated with lights out. During the day it's tentacles are retracted and the polyp lays on it's side. It seems to prefer lower light and flow.

Anyone have an idea of what I have here?

noahm · 01/08/2010, 04:52 PM

looks like some kind of paly to me. Weird about the open/night closed /day thing though. The knobby stalk is kinda odd too. Maybe somebody will chime in.

spleify · 01/08/2010, 05:20 PM

Definitely a strange specimin there.

To Reef Central

elFloyd · 01/08/2010, 07:57 PM

Ha! Maybe I should sell it for thousands on eBay as a new discovery... I can even give the buyer naming rights!

redfishsc · 01/08/2010, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elFloyd

Ha! Maybe I should sell it for thousands on eBay as a new discovery... I can even give the buyer naming rights!

You don't get good money for those weirdos like that unless they look like Jesus or Mary.

It looks to me like a green palythoa. But the behavior and stalk are really strange. I'd hold onto it if I were you and see if it begins to propagate. You might consider target feeding it at night.

shroom101 · 01/08/2010, 08:46 PM

that thing is definitely flippin weird lookin' any mor pics???

fmelindy · 01/08/2010, 09:11 PM

look up "Isaurus" on google. Definitely looks like what you have there. It's a variation on a zoanthid, otherwise known as a "snake polyp"

redfishsc · 01/08/2010, 10:17 PM

I think we have a winner. A quick google image search shows some stuff that looks identical to that critter. Isaurus. I learn something new here every day!

elFloyd · 01/08/2010, 11:13 PM

I agree, Isaurus it is! Now I need to move him into more light. Thanks all... been trying to ID this guy for some time now!

Salamander · 01/08/2010, 11:38 PM

They are very slow growers and like to be spot fed. They'll take fairly large chunks at night when it opens.

Mine have only grown from 3 polyps to 7 in about 4-5 years.

attml · 01/09/2010, 12:28 AM

Attack of the 50ft Aptasia! Definitely odd! thought it was a tunicate until you showed it opened up!

Frick-n-Frags · 01/09/2010, 06:08 AM

heh, snake polyp. but if you had eric borneman's "corals.." book, you would have already known this

great book which once again demonstrates its value.

fmelindy · 01/09/2010, 04:22 PM

yep, any knowledge I have about corals came from that book (and here on RC too, of course!)

01/08/2010, 05:20 PM	#3
spleify Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 9,579	Definitely a strange specimin there. *To Reef Central* __________________ Make it a Great Day!!!! Current Tank Info: 60 gal SPS cube, with 25 gal refugium, 400W MH, DIY Lumenarc III, DIY skimmer, DIY stand and canopy. 40 breeder LPS with 40 gallon sump, DIY stand, 250W MH

01/08/2010, 10:17 PM	#8
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	I think we have a winner. A quick google image search shows some stuff that looks identical to that critter. Isaurus. I learn something new here every day! __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

01/08/2010, 11:38 PM	#10
Salamander Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Flagstaff, Arizona Posts: 2,103	They are very slow growers and like to be spot fed. They'll take fairly large chunks at night when it opens. Mine have only grown from 3 polyps to 7 in about 4-5 years. __________________ I feel more like myself now than I did before. Current Tank Info: 120g mixed reef, 2 x 250W DE MH, 2 x 54w T5, MSX 200 SKimmer, 2 Koralia 4's, 40g fuge/sump, QT

01/09/2010, 06:08 AM	#12
Frick-n-Frags Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: north central OH Posts: 10,740	heh, snake polyp. but if you had eric borneman's "corals.." book, you would have already known this great book which once again demonstrates its value. __________________ Only Dead fish swim with the current. Current Tank Info: 2 50 gal tanks, sump, still BB

01/08/2010, 04:52 PM	#2
noahm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2,736	looks like some kind of paly to me. Weird about the open/night closed /day thing though. The knobby stalk is kinda odd too. Maybe somebody will chime in.

01/08/2010, 07:57 PM	#4
elFloyd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Cumming, GA Posts: 421	Ha! Maybe I should sell it for thousands on eBay as a new discovery... I can even give the buyer naming rights!

01/08/2010, 08:46 PM	#6
shroom101 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Toledo,Ohio Posts: 76	that thing is definitely flippin weird lookin' any mor pics???

01/08/2010, 09:11 PM	#7
fmelindy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: St. John's, NL, Canada Posts: 116	look up "Isaurus" on google. Definitely looks like what you have there. It's a variation on a zoanthid, otherwise known as a "snake polyp"

01/08/2010, 11:13 PM	#9
elFloyd Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Cumming, GA Posts: 421	I agree, Isaurus it is! Now I need to move him into more light. Thanks all... been trying to ID this guy for some time now!

01/09/2010, 12:28 AM	#11
attml Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Round Bay, Maryland Posts: 1,041	Attack of the 50ft Aptasia! Definitely odd! thought it was a tunicate until you showed it opened up!

01/09/2010, 04:22 PM	#13
fmelindy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: St. John's, NL, Canada Posts: 116	yep, any knowledge I have about corals came from that book (and here on RC too, of course!)