It looks like a yellow/brown Sinularia.I've been obsessed with videos of Raja Ampat and have stocked my reef with mostly fish and coral native to the region and plan to eventually make it a full biotope. This coral really caught my eye. It appears to be some kind of gold/yellow leather coral but I can't tell what and Inturalist which I normally use to ID an animal hasn't been much help. If anyone knows what it is, would be a huge help.
Sinularia are cabbage leathers. The genus you're thinking of is Sclerophytum.
No, they're zooxanthellate. Azoox soft corals will usually be orange, red, or pink. I also wouldn't trust an aquarium-based site for identification, as they usually misidentify things or use outdated nomenclature.
I searched some images of Litophyton and it looks very similar to the screenshot I put out in this thread. The common name is broccoli coral. I don't see many places selling them online. Looks like the Sclerophytum is a bit stumpier so I don't believe it's that.
Yes, not all sinularia are cabbage leathers. Spaghetti Leather coral are also a sinularia (Sinularia flexibilis). My first thought for the image was a species of Sinularia, but it's so hard to tell.
Sinularia dura is a synonym of S. brassica, which is the only valid species in Sinularia. All "finger leather" Sinularia were reclassified to Sclerophytum.
Ah interesting so the coral in the screenshot definitely isn't a sinularia.
Interesting! I stand corrected! Thanks. I hadn't heard about this revision.
Thank you for this info!
So I was digging around could it be some gold variety of Nephthea? Not sure if nephthea is found in Raja Ampat but it also looks very similar.
Nephthea is a synonym of Litophyton, which is why I suggested that genus.
Wow I also did not know that. It's definitely that then. I checked and they are native to Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Now to see if a golden variety is being sold anywhere. Thanks for the help great knowledge on coral.
