Mass on coral plug

[Fishpunforeveryone]

Mystery paly or zoa had been growing and healthy for a year and a half however has been retracted for the past two months and has begun to stress a neighboring zoa colony. During todays water change I lifted their rock and from the new perspective saw a mass growing off the coral plug ckoing the base of the coral

 

[redfishbluefish]

Not the best of pictures, but seeing the Zoa's closed up and the "spikes" on that thing, I'm guess a zoa eating nudibranch. Google that and look at images and see if it matches.


Oh, and welcome to R2R..... [HASH=75]#WelcometoR2R[/HASH]

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!
I vote a sponge
Can be pried off.

 

[El_Guapo13]

Welcome to R2R!! Not sure what that is. It doesn't really look like a zoa eating nudi, at least not compared to the pics that come up on google. Honestly it looks like some sort of porous structure, almost like how some land fungi look. Anyone on [HASH=1]#reefsquad[/HASH] have an idea if this is some sort of fungus or sponge or something?

 

[UCF Alum]

Welcome to r2r!
I vote a sponge
Can be pried off.

+1

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to R2R!! Not sure what that is. It doesn't really look like a zoa eating nudi, at least not compared to the pics that come up on google. Honestly it looks like some sort of porous structure, almost like how some land fungi look. Anyone on [HASH=1]#reefsquad[/HASH] have an idea if this is some sort of fungus or sponge or something?

Hello...am part of the squad and as stated its a sponge.

 

[Fishpunforeveryone]

Thanks for the replies everyone. From one angle you can really see the "branching sections very distinctly but from the other side is very obscured and there is a fuzzy covering with those branching structures underneath. The side with the more distinct branches faces the light where as the fuzzy side is in the shade

 

[Is this the LFS]

It’s a sponge. Can be beneficial and a nuisance at the same time

 

[reef lover]

Thats a beautiful sponge!!;Wideyed

 

[Justin Cook]

Odd little sponge of some sort.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its called cryptic sponge and can grow wild. Easy to trim back if needed

 

[Fishpunforeveryone]

I will see if I can remove the plug while keeping both parties intact. I dont mind a little more noninvasive biodiversity