New Corals

I purchased three new corals last weekend. All have rigid and at times bizarre bases from which the soft coral polyps sprout.

Anchor Coral

Here is the Anchor Coral just after arrival. Notice the rigid but convoluted base with the Grey polyp heads just sticking out.

Here is the Anchor after it "blossomed" (but under different lighting).

Here is a closeup of the Anchor's polyps. Notice how translucent they are, with curved and whiteish heads.

The Anchor Coral is one of the more "aggressive" corals. How can a coral be aggressive when it is tied down to its rigid base? It propagates stinging filaments to attack any creatures within perhaps 6 inches. Here you can just barely see such a filament: the arrows attempt to point it out. The aquarist (that's me!) has to move all sensitive creatures so that they are more than 6 inches away from the downstream side of the Anchor.