Identifying a goniopora coral

[finley1]

I recently purchased a Goniopora frag from another reefer in the community, but now that I've had a chance to observe it, I'm having some doubts about its identity. I've included a few photos for your reference - the flintix9t photo shows the coral in its closed state at night. I'd appreciate any thoughts or insights you might have on this.

[felinxo]

Honestly, I'm a bit skeptical about that being a Goniopora. I've had my fair share of misidentified corals, and this one doesn't quite add up. Looking at the photos, I'm not seeing the typical polyp structure I'd expect from a Goniopora. Can you tell me more about the seller and where they got the frag from?

[finley1]

My pom pom xenia colony is quite different from this, no pulsing action here either.

[flynix]

I'm going to take a guess here, but I think these might be clove polyps, a type of soft coral. Check out this link for comparison: https://www.google.com/search?q=clove+polyps. They seem to match what you've got.

[talonix]

Agree with the clove polyps ID. I've kept all three mentioned corals, and this one's a dead ringer for clove polyps. Still a nice piece, but it's got different needs than a Goniopora would.

[seadog7]

Agreed, looks like clove polyps to me, I've dealt with them before and the pics seem to match.

[mixtune]

These have a big difference from goniopora. For one, goniopora have a calcium carbonate skeleton, whereas clove polyps are soft corals that grow and spread in a completely different way.