Rafi Amar, Israel
Info
Melithaea sinaica (Grasshoff, 2000)
The Sinai Fan Melithaea sinaica Grasshoff, 2000, formerly known as Acabaria sinaica Grasshoff, 2000, is an azooxanthellate coral from our "home sea", the Mediterranean.
All the more astonishing that apparently only one information (from Underwater World Red Sea) about the height (size) of the species can be found, therefore we would be very pleased if diving users, who have seen the coral in natura, could give us further hints.
Maybe one of the divers even brought back an offshoot from vacation and could possibly give an experience report on keeping it?
Since the fan has no symbiosis with zooxanthellae, it does not need daylight for growth, therefore habitats in underwater caves and shady areas in rocky reefs with appropriate water movement for feeding microplankton are ideal for the coral.
Color: Red-orange, depending on lighting and incidence of light, the white polyps stand out clearly from the basic color of the animal.
Growth forms of the Sinai fan: the sea fan has a net-like structure, which can also be bush-like under good conditions.
Corals like the beautiful Sinai sea fan are often found in mesophotic depths, the indication of the depth of 65 meters is taken from the paper "Octocorals of the Indo-Pacific", page 717.
We would like to thank "Underwater World Red Sea", Peter Jonas, for the first photo of this beautiful coral.
Synonym: Acabaria sinaica Grasshoff, 2000
The Sinai Fan Melithaea sinaica Grasshoff, 2000, formerly known as Acabaria sinaica Grasshoff, 2000, is an azooxanthellate coral from our "home sea", the Mediterranean.
All the more astonishing that apparently only one information (from Underwater World Red Sea) about the height (size) of the species can be found, therefore we would be very pleased if diving users, who have seen the coral in natura, could give us further hints.
Maybe one of the divers even brought back an offshoot from vacation and could possibly give an experience report on keeping it?
Since the fan has no symbiosis with zooxanthellae, it does not need daylight for growth, therefore habitats in underwater caves and shady areas in rocky reefs with appropriate water movement for feeding microplankton are ideal for the coral.
Color: Red-orange, depending on lighting and incidence of light, the white polyps stand out clearly from the basic color of the animal.
Growth forms of the Sinai fan: the sea fan has a net-like structure, which can also be bush-like under good conditions.
Corals like the beautiful Sinai sea fan are often found in mesophotic depths, the indication of the depth of 65 meters is taken from the paper "Octocorals of the Indo-Pacific", page 717.
We would like to thank "Underwater World Red Sea", Peter Jonas, for the first photo of this beautiful coral.
Synonym: Acabaria sinaica Grasshoff, 2000
