dalmayshun Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 I recently received help in identifying a Lindapecten muscosus I found in a construction site in Estero, Florida. I could only photograph it the day I located it, but went back the next day to chip it out of the limestone it was imbedded in. Unfortunately as I suspected, it came out in pieces...so I am really glad I have photos of it. To my point, however, in trying to find it the second day, I came across this coral which intrigued me. Its pattern of growth seems to be surface only....in a thin layer. All the pieces I found were tubular bullet shaped, or egg shaped as in the photo of the one that popped out. It is interesting to me, because it doesn't seem to any depth to it...it seems to be a surface growth only coral...Each of the "tubes" or "bullets" show a solid core of what looks like limestone, you can see it in the one piece that is chipped on the side. The other part that is of interest to me, is the way it seems to form a basketweave pattern, with strands of coral growth running along the surface and interpaces filled with little striated nodules. From the fourth photo, you can see that there is little separation between the little heads...and in the fifth image, I tried to show the thin encrusted type of growth I found in all the pieces i gathered. Each time I post things here I learn so much, so I am looking forward to advancing my knowledge of corals this time.Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 There appears to be quite a bit of dissolution and replacement so it might be difficult to identify precisely. If I had to name it from the pictures I would say perhaps Dichocoenia Link however the corallites might be too small. Is there any original material or are the corallites shown in your picture internal casts? Mike "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalmayshun Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 as far as I can tell, they are silicified original material... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalmayshun Posted June 18, 2018 Author Share Posted June 18, 2018 all the piece I found in this particular location looked the same, those long strands running over the surface parallel to each other with nodules between them. if I could show you a video of these bullet shaped pieces, the strands would run latitudinally around the pieces, rather than longitudinally. While I know corals grow in all kinds of directions, if they are broken, one usually sees that growth out from from a lower position, somewhat like a plant stem growing from a root....these aren't like that. they look like strings wrapped horizontally around a tube, from bottom to top. I guess I am terrible at descriptions, and maybe what I should try is adding a few photos of the polyp area....In the first image, the marks on the ruler are 32nds, so the bars exiiting the photo are 8th inch marks. the second photo, I tried to show the surface growth of these strands...none of them had any signs of coral inside the structure...only on the surface. I thought that was unusual, but perhaps it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Thats a really nice specimen! I'm intrigued with the lattice shape and the bullets. Hoping Mike have more to say with the additional description/photos. I'm not worth anything on corals other than I can say I have several, but nothing like it. Thanks for showing us...I definitely like it! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansTheLoser Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 Clearly not Dichocoenia that has enlarged corallites and almost no coenosteum. For proper determination a transversal section is necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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