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Boomer · 09-03-2007, 12:11 PM

OK, I'm here

Nice post and pics Matt

As noted Tubastrea do not need light to grow. Saying they need light like we do or light to some degree is not even really worthy of a comment. Why ? There are lots of animals that live in almost or even total darkness, i.e., cave shrimp, insects, fish, etc..The deepest trenches of the sea have life, fish octopus, assorted cnidarians, ctenophorans, shrimp etc.

Is it possible that Tubastrea may need a tad of light as claimed as we do ? Sure but that is not the issue and is a very poor point. So why are they not a great depths. For the same reason other animals are not a great depths, they can not adapt to that environment. The pressure down there is enormous and there are very few sessile animals, most are on the move or in the water column. Many attrack food using light. How is a Tubastrea going to do that ?

If this was the case they would be found in pitch black caves.

I doubt the cave environment supports their food and other environmental needs. Light may be used by them to just tell the difference between day and night. The issue at hand and argument for these corals is "do they need light for food", as in photosynthetic activity and the answer is no. One could ask does a Copper Banded Butterfly fish need light ? Of course. He is not going to be able to find food in the dark. So again the need of light argument is very poor and is knit picking an issue.

current

A good thing for most cnidarians as it brings them food, unless they are subjected to little current and a sea of food. However, for most cnidarians that is a no-no, as current is how they remove the continuous generation of mucous they produce. Without current they "suffocate" from their own mucous.

Target feeding is risky because you rick over feeding by clogging up the polyp.

There is no such thing as overfeeding and getting clogged polyps. They will reject what they don't want or shut themselves down chemically and mechanically or retract. You have all seen, I think, anemones being sticky one day and not sticky the next. You give them food and it does not stick but just floats up to the surface. That is a shut-down controlled by all cnidarians. How they do that I have yet seen explained but it is know to a degree how some of it is controlled.

09-03-2007, 12:11 PM	#32 (permalink)
Boomer Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Duluth, Minnesota Posts: 2,194 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: September Coral of the Month: Tubastrea OK, I'm here Nice post and pics Matt As noted Tubastrea do not need light to grow. Saying they need light like we do or light to some degree is not even really worthy of a comment. Why ? There are lots of animals that live in almost or even total darkness, i.e., cave shrimp, insects, fish, etc..The deepest trenches of the sea have life, fish octopus, assorted cnidarians, ctenophorans, shrimp etc. Is it possible that Tubastrea may need a tad of light as claimed as we do ? Sure but that is not the issue and is a very poor point. So why are they not a great depths. For the same reason other animals are not a great depths, they can not adapt to that environment. The pressure down there is enormous and there are very few sessile animals, most are on the move or in the water column. Many attrack food using light. How is a Tubastrea going to do that ? If this was the case they would be found in pitch black caves. I doubt the cave environment supports their food and other environmental needs. Light may be used by them to just tell the difference between day and night. The issue at hand and argument for these corals is "do they need light for food", as in photosynthetic activity and the answer is no. One could ask does a Copper Banded Butterfly fish need light ? Of course. He is not going to be able to find food in the dark. So again the need of light argument is very poor and is knit picking an issue. current A good thing for most cnidarians as it brings them food, unless they are subjected to little current and a sea of food. However, for most cnidarians that is a no-no, as current is how they remove the continuous generation of mucous they produce. Without current they "suffocate" from their own mucous. Target feeding is risky because you rick over feeding by clogging up the polyp. There is no such thing as overfeeding and getting clogged polyps. They will reject what they don't want or shut themselves down chemically and mechanically or retract. You have all seen, I think, anemones being sticky one day and not sticky the next. You give them food and it does not stick but just floats up to the surface. That is a shut-down controlled by all cnidarians. How they do that I have yet seen explained but it is know to a degree how some of it is controlled. __________________ Boomer Want to Talk Chemistry ! The Reef Chemistry Forum Want to See More ! The Coral Realm If you See Me Running You Better Catch-Up An explosion can be defined as a loud noise, accompanied by the sudden going away of things, from a place where they use to be. Last edited by Boomer : 09-03-2007 at 02:30 PM.