Northern Sharks Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 This is a little bit out of my range for age and location, but a friend of mine was asking if this coral he has could be identified. He is a mineral collector, got this in a collection purchase, and the only info he has for this piece was that it came out of Florida. I know it's not much to go on, but I'm hoping it's distinctive enough to get a possible ID and age. Thanks in advance There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 @digit Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 @MikeR is pretty knowledgeable about Florida corals as well. Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 There are few branching corals in the tropical western Atlantic (which includes Florida). Given the size of the corallites and the fact that they are exserted ("outies" not "innies") that precludes the acroporids and the poritids. The coral branches and corallite sizes seem way too large for Madracis auretenra which leaves us with the genus Oculina. The branch thickness is too thick for O. tenella (Delicate Ivory Bush Coral) and O. diffusa (Diffuse Ivory Bush Coral). The species O. arbuscula (Tube Coral) is more densely branched clumps without longer branches. This leaves 2 remaining extant species--O. robusa (Robust Ivory Tree Coral) and O. varicosa (Large Ivory Coral). The robust branches look more in line with O. robusta and the corallites look larger so I'm going to tentatively side with this identification. The polyps of O. robusta are around 6 mm in diameter and those of O. varicosa only average half that (2-3 mm). Here is a good reference (with skeletal images) to compare with: http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/species_factsheets/species_factsheet_summary/oculina-robusta/ http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/species_factsheets/species_factsheet_summary/oculina-varicosa/ This specimen looks too clean of any calcareous matrix and the septal detail too sharp for this to be a fossil specimen but then I have seen fossil corals buried in sandy matrix that look just as clean as modern specimens tossed up on a beach after a storm. If this is an extinct species and not an extant one then I'm well out of my depth as I only know my living scleractinian coral species from years of coral reef research. Quite possibly Mike will have more to say. Cheers. -Ken 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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