Quote:
Originally Posted by mps9506  hmmm...
Maybe a future experiment? Sure would take a lot of ricorida and tanks to setup proper control and experimental tanks to play with photoperiod, light, temp etc 
My immediate guess would be light exposure, maybe a factor of light intensity, and photoperiod causing a change in the pigments to either block excess light or direct more usable light to zooxanthellae. I know similar theories exist with coloration variation in Acropora sp.
I have never even observed Ricordia yuma in the wild so I probably shouldn't even fathom a guess without having seen and experienced the conditions in which they are naturally found. |
I would have to agree, at least in the tank why they change. I have noticed high placed lemon ricordias change toward green and lower placed stay pretty much the same (MH), pink and blue darken to more intense hues under higher lighting same with orange. Don't think feeding has alot to do with color much, just growth and mouths produced.
I have noticed that splitting occures much faster under less intense light levels, PC vs MH (not shadowed lighting or low light levels).
Lately I have played around with T5 HO actinics and have noticed the colors of all my corallimorpharians intensify, not just ricordia, along with zoanthids (also an increase in growth, especially in the zoanthids and new polyps appearing) which seems to me to almost contradict what I just said before.
:smck: