这样的词被用来描述诸如“稀有”之类的珊瑚的相对丰度几乎在水族馆爱好中失去了任何含义,因为它被抛弃了很多。但是如果有一个圣杯所有圣杯珊瑚中的珊瑚种类无非是很少见到的Nishi圣杯,echinomorpha nishihiroiwhich is distinctive among theEchinophyllia这构成了这一受欢迎的珊瑚群的大多数礁石收藏。
Despite having a broad natural distribution it seems like Nishi Chalices only appear in the hobby in small clusters and we had the good fortune of being at Ultra Corals Australia when they offloaded a handful of really exemplary specimens that we took some time to appreciate and document. We don’t know if they warrant being in their own genus butEchinomorphais distinctive in being mostly mound-shaped ‘colonies’ with one large primary corallite that may eventually develop some secondary corallites several centimeters apart, if at all.
While the general appearance, color and pattern may closely resemble someEchinophylliaspecies the surface of Nishi chalices is noticeably more spiny and the central corallite is also well adorned with exert septa, but not quite as much asParaechinophyllia tarae.后一种物种在太平洋中更为广泛,但是在水族馆的爱好中,它甚至更为罕见,当我们实际收集足够多的奇怪物种图片时,它是未来文章的主题。就像一些较旧的珊瑚ID书中所示的许多珊瑚一样Echinomorpha从野外绘制时,从单调的灰色,绿色和棕色的珊瑚变成令人惊讶的颜色和图案的万花筒,当在现代,蓝色的水族馆照明下观看时,各种颜色。
Among these few specimens ofEchinomorpha从大堡礁的南部,我们可以真正欣赏Nishi圣杯的独特“外观”,其中一个相对较大的单一中央珊瑚岩,比我们预期的要大得多Echinophyllia. The tissue surrounding the corallite qualifies as very mottled but this camouflage of hues hides subtle shades of blue, pink, and jade green which is peppered with light yellow accents to nearly all the spines.
Nis的微妙的美hi chalice might only be appreciated by real coral connoisseurs and one thing that keeps this species objectively rare in the reef aquarium hobby is that since colonies rarely develop more than the central corallite, propagating this coral by fragging is probably not as straightforward as other truly colonial coral species. We’re glad that we got to see some good card-carryingEchnimorphafrom the Great Barrier Reef at Ultra Coral Australia because now we have a much better idea of what this coral issupposedto look like and will hopefully better guide us at picking it out from other chalice corals sporting a single central corallite in the future.