Are these eggs? (Shark Point, Krabi, Thailand)

[huskychemist]

I saw these all over on two dives in Krabi (Koh Kiaew and Shark Point).


This picture is from Shark Point, taken Friday 22nd February, 2008. Depth: Approx 10-15 msw.

Size: Each "egg" was probably smaller than a ping-pong ball, but the mass was pretty large.


Any thoughts?

Many thanks.

Happy Diving.

Lowell

 

[LeslieH]

That's the bubble coral Plerogyra sinuosa. It looks quite different when the polyps are retracted. If you had examined it closely you would have found some beautiful shrimp, crabs, & worms that live with it.

 

[ryan115]

Agreed

 

[huskychemist]

Many thanks. Some form of soft coral was my other guess. I didn't do as close of an inspection as I should have.

Thanks for the ID.

Lowell

 

[ryan115]

it actually is a stony coral in the broad group known as large polyp stony corals (LPS). It does have an abundance of soft tissue but it grows from a CaCO3 skeleton

 

[huskychemist]

Thanks for the updated information. I find corals very difficult to identify at times. This one seems a bit easier, now that I know what it is.

Thanks to all of you for the help.

Lowell