I do most of the identification/curation of Indo-Pacific corals/anemones/hydroids/etc on here. Unfortunately, I’m often the only one doing this, which results in a LOT of observations that get stuck at a higher taxonomic level. Tagging users is proving to be an ineffective means to correct this problem, so I’m hoping that perhaps I can conscript some of you forum-goers to help add IDs to get these to Research Grade. I’ve already gone through and identified most of these observations, but please tag me in any that haven’t been looked at.
And try to avoid the temptation of guessing at IDs… that’s what got us in this predicament in the first place. Corals are a tricky group. I know a lot of people are loathe to identify observations if they don’t have expertise (generally a good rule, I’d say), but even adding a humble order-level ID is probably enough to fix most of these. Goodluck and godspeed!
Apologies, I will be basically of no help for that particular taxa, so I can only wish you good luck! Do you have some guides/tips to help the layman iNatter make more educated guesses?
Looking at Corals makes me cheerful. They’re like flowers! So lovely, so interesting. However, I have only ever seen them at an aquarium. I am learning to tell anemones and soft corals apart. I think I will see what comments I can put to help narrow the IDs a little. Here’s the video I made. "Cnidarians & Friends, the Florida Aquarium, Tampa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNg54Vgnzag&t=78s
Thanks for tackling the aquatic life forms :)
To be honest, once underwater, I stop understanding what is a plant and what is an animal, so I don’t even touch that stuff.
I’ve been working my way through May Unknowns and there’s a ton of corals from Indonesia that have suddenly been put on. I also am no help… but if there’s a way I can make a better coarse ID let me know. Sometimes I’m not even sure what goes in the coral/anemone category! I do try to go back through and fix mistakes once they’ve been identified - if I miss any tag me. I noticed that you’ve been taking care of the ones I’ve given coarse IDs too - Thanks for your work!
as a side related note, I remember as a kid having this book called “Marine Life of the Pacific and Indian Oceans” and its essentially like an informative picture book of various animals and plants one may find in these waters. Was a real good book and that was actually one of my first glimpses into how biodiverse our ecosystems can be.