Do Trachyphyllia move? (1 Viewer)

[frankc]

When I got home from the picnic/frag swap today, my Trachyphyllia was several inches away from where it was when I left. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but there is a slight hill in the sand 3-4 inches to the right and behind its present location, and that's where it was. I figure it made that hill by expanding during the day and contracting at night, but I didn't think they could pick themselves up and move. The conchs sometimes move small corals on plugs a little, but I don't think they could move something this big this far - it is about 6.5 inches across right now.

I don't know if this is where it would prefer to be, but it is uncomfortably close to the bubble coral so I think I will move it back to where it's been for a couple years.

 

[paraletho]

Yes it is possible. The flat bottom species move easier than the cone bottom but this is a slow process. They move by inflating one side and moving slowly toward the deflated side, some Fungia have been known to do this also. they usually move when unhappy moving from to much flow or light to more preferable conditions. More than likely this is not the case if it has been in this spot long term.