what is it?

[justleesa]

Hi all!
I took this picture at about 40' at Kewalo pipe. It's the first time I've seen this and was told it is a soft coral....wouldn't I've seen it before if it was? Do they grow that fast or can corals move?
To me the ribbon looks more like nudi eggs of some kind.....the white stuff could be a soft coral and the green from the sponge (looks more like moss) family....
Any tips?
Aloha,
Lisa

 

[gehadoski]

actually I don't know what is this but it looks amazing. I can't wait to know what is this

 

[Dee]

Wow...that IS wierd. The ribbon part could be nudi eggs...how big was it? The green fuzzy part could be some type of algae. I'm just not that good on Hawaiian stuff but I don't think ya'll have soft corals, 'course I could be wrong!

 

[justleesa]

I would say it was about 12" across and sticking up about, oh os 3 or 4 inches ( the middle part).The lacy edge was about an inch...maybe a little more high and as far as I could tell it went all the way around...If all fails I'll send it to the Bishop Museum and see what they say.

 

[Charlie99]

I agree with Dee's guess of nudi eggs. It kind of looks like a Spanish Dancer egg cluster in color and texture, even though it is the wrong shape.

 

[boney]

Nice shot justleesa!
For once I can actually say that it is soft coral, or at least I'm 80% sure it is. I was looking at something just like that ribbon stuff in a mag called Scubapress. They had taken a bunch of shots in the Cayman's and they showed the ribbon like stuff.

I'll try to dig it up tonight - its my buddy's b-day so I'll try to remember after the festivities

 

[Grajan]

but it looks a bit like the mantle of some type of clam to me. The white and green areas may just be acretions onto the shell.

The layout of the 'ribbon' has about the right geometry to be a mantle.

Hi all!
I took this picture at about 40' at Kewalo pipe. It's the first time I've seen this and was told it is a soft coral....wouldn't I've seen it before if it was? Do they grow that fast or can corals move?
To me the ribbon looks more like nudi eggs of some kind.....the white stuff could be a soft coral and the green from the sponge (looks more like moss) family....
Any tips?
Aloha,
Lisa

 

[jcclink]

The top part (lower part in pic) looks similar to an abalone shell.

 

[justleesa]

here is a side view shot

 

[Grajan]

here is a side view shot

but probably not an abalone as they feed/respire through holes in the shell. Probably something similar.

I found this site with an amazing abalone video while searching for images.

http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/taxalab/sallav.htm