Whats with the coral ID's recently

[Liam]

I am seeing it more and more recently and i don't see it as being fair to good faith buyers,the issue is incorrectly ID'd corals.
I see people post a pic and ask for an ID,someone responds Oh that looks like "named coral" instead of that looks like "name of species".
All of a sudden they are for sale in the sale forums being sold under the name that was suggested.
This is basically fraud IMO,you would not want someone selling you a diamond when in fact it is cut glass would you?

The sad thing is that most of the ID's being given are not anywhere even close to being the same species most of the time.

If people selling a coral want to make up their own name for something that fine but IMO it is not fine to sell a coral under an established name when you cannot prove that" it is what it is"

 

[S Hunter]

i have to agree, but some of the names i see people use are very clever!

 

[JohnK]

This bugs me as well.

I suspect that part of the problem is that the craze of having fancy names for special corals has been around longer than a lot of the newer reefers. In other words, it is starting to seem like an awful lot of people think that EVERYTHING has a fancy name, and thus the creative interpetations and photoshopping ensues....

Not every coral has a fancy trade name, in fact the vast majority are, for example, "common zoa's", or "pink acros" exct.....

 

[delta]

Only makes for a good case to buy from people you know are not making it up as they go.

I am not big on named corals if I like and the price is what I am willing to pay, then fine.
Regardless, I would be upset if I bought say a Tyree something to find it is a Joe Smoe nothing.

I would say it is safe to say if you had to ask then you really have no idea. It is a good faith thing. Just as letting people know you have red bug (if you do) before selling them a coral, or that you had them and treated for them. Then they can make an informed purchase.

If you want a name, tag your own name if you don't know.

 

[jtmac]

I agree Delta. If I like it and the price is right I buy it. I could care less about what there called.

 

[kevinpratt823]

The names do have thier place, as there are various color morphs of any particular species and it helps identify/distinguish them, as some may be more desireable or rare, but this is getting abused.. I too have fallen victim to a false interpretation based on good faith and even one based on assumption. Live and learn. They are all corals, and regaurdless of price/value I still only buy the ones I like, but if I want to collect say, all the ORA pieces, I want to get them and not something somebody thought looked similar. Part of the responsibility is on me to do my homework and know what to look for, but that only goes so far when a frag is in a bag or a crappy pic(like the ones I take). The other part is on the seller/trader to be honest about what they know about where the coral came from, and not just putting a name on it to make it sound more collectable. I enjoy collecting unique morphs that aren't that common and appeal to me, and between me and my tanks the names can be fun, but not in the way of misrepresenting them to others. The way I see it, if you were a coin collector, and I said, "Me too!", then I showed you a jar of spare change, you probably wouldn't be too impressed anyhow.

 

[shrkbait]

As a newcomer, and admittedly someone who cannot name half the corals in my tank at the moment, I would say the naming of some of these, especially the zoos, is bizarre and random. Generally with fish, many spots went to scientific name only. May be long and winded but at least consistent. I have been trying to find a good visual table of the common corals out there, but the only matches are either stores, that may or may not have all items, or boards. The species wikis out there tend to keep things as text versus having a good photo or set of photos.

If anyone can point us to definitive references, please do!

 

[JohnK]

I suspect that the biggest problem is that a lot of people really do believe that their brown zoas must be some fancy morph and don't realize that there are dozens of bland morphs for every really bright/exciting one.

How many threads have there been reccently that went like this;

-ID please? (see pic of brown zoa)

Followed by several posts;
-honey bees
-Purple dragons
-No, Definately purple dragons
-Maybe radio active tyree fire
-Yea, that's it, radio active tyree fire
-Not all zoa's have fancy names (I usually post this)
-nope, honey bees
exct....

The last thing that OP walks away with is any hint of the idea that they were common brown zoas. Then two weeks later they are being offered for sale as Radio active tyree fire for $5 / polyp....

 

[JohnK]

As a newcomer, and admittedly someone who cannot name half the corals in my tank at the moment, I would say the naming of some of these, especially the zoos, is bizarre and random. Generally with fish, many spots went to scientific name only. May be long and winded but at least consistent. I have been trying to find a good visual table of the common corals out there, but the only matches are either stores, that may or may not have all items, or boards. The species wikis out there tend to keep things as text versus having a good photo or set of photos.

If anyone can point us to definitive references, please do!

There is no definitive reference on fancy names because they are all, that's every single one of them, are 100% made up with no actual specficity or validity. The only way to be accurate is if the lineage can be traced to a specific original where the name originated.

zoaid.com is sort of a reference to the zoa names, but even there half the pics reek of photoshop....

 

[nicks387]

I'm with Liam. If your asking for a genus name to i.d. a wild colony you picked up its fine, but theres no reason anyone should ever have to ask "whats the name of this coral?" If it didn't have a name when you bought it then it doesn't have a name now. You don't buy a frag of Tyree's Ultimate blue stag in a lfs labeled "stag".
Theres only 1 reason anyone should ever ask the question does this look like so and so? and thats if you think you got burnt on a frag. If you bought a wild piece at the lfs that looks like a certain coral and you are fishing to see if everyone else thinks it does too so you can then sell it as such is crap.

 

[nicks387]

Theres nothing worse then buying a frag you were told was one thing and then after doing a little more research you find out its not. This is why I only buy from reputable sellers that I know are on the up and up, and even then you can end up with the wrong piece because they got duped somewere along the line.
Thats why if its a rarer piece that I have not seen myself too many times, I do alot of research before I even start looking to make the purchase so that when I see it I will know right away it is what it should be.

 

[S Hunter]

If anyone can point us to definitive references, please do!

cool little tool, http://coralidea.com/coral.html , they also have one of these for fish..

 

[Joel A]

it only bugs me when someone calls it something that it's not... other than that it doesn't bother me..

If you're selling a tyree pink lemonade as a tyree pink lemonade, then i have no issues with that.. it's when you're selling a pink or red acropora prostrata as such that i begin to have a bit of an issue. Same goes for other corals...

If you know beyond a doubt what the coral you have is, then that's fine sell it by it's trade name.. otherwise i think it should be classified by it's scientific and or common hobby name example; "Blue Acropora Striata" or for those less familiar with corals species "thin branching blue acropora staghorn".

It also pisses me off a bit when you see people making their own names for corals because they don't already have one.. who says you get to name your corals like sam taborah and steve tyree do?

 

[NeverlosT]

People really get bananas over this stuff. The fact is that there are so many variables from tank to tank, lighting setup, current, etc. that the same coral may look very different from system to system. Even the big shots these days say "I no longer look at photos and say this is XYZ acro or 123 Monti".

Basically the way I see it you have two options, and BOTH are totally acceptable!

1. If you are the type interested in "name brand" corals and so on, then demand lineage and pay out the nose for it. Only shop from people that can name every coral in their tank and most by scientific name as well. Be there when your coral is fragged. Ask where they got their colony. Get wild. But even then, DO NOT gripe when it doesnt look that way in your tank. You didnt get screwed, you just arent a perfect clone of their system. It is something to work towards!

2. Just let go of the names to a certain extent. Do I want "Raspberry Limeade"? Yes. Your damn right I do, but if I go to someones house and see something that looks exactly like it to me and is a good price will I buy it? absolutely. Will I turn around and market it as "The real deal Limeade"? No. I will say hey, I have a frag of Acro X that looks a lot like Rasp. Lime. Basically I use the names as a "rough outline" of what I am getting. My reef looks gorgeous to me, and my opinion is the one that matters, cause it is in my living room!

We all need to make the choice of how we want to go. Name brand or just what looks good, and it is up to each of you to check your sources. Ask questions. It isnt being rude, it is being a conscientious buyer. It is NOT up to the seller. Just like it isnt up to them to GUARANTEE no bugs/pests. It is on YOU to dip and on YOU to demand the details that prove the lineage. :.

Im a #2 here. I get what I like. I rarely get something as "LE SuperFizz", even if I did, I would sell it as "what I bought as SuperFizz" (which is a sweet name by the way!). If you want the crazy real deal, I know some people who are #1 folks and can hook you up bigtime. ::

 

[kevinpratt823]

But not to take away from wild colonies, a couple of my favorite corals are wild colonies that colored up awesome in my tank. But I don't have to call it "Pratt's Skunkweed Acro" to make it worth $30/frag. If you like it and it's unique(I do, and it is), it's worth it already.

 

[nicks387]

So Neverlost, do you think its morally ok for someone to sell things as Tyree this and that even if they are not and if it gets purchased its the buyers fault?

 

[Joel A]

People really get bananas over this stuff. The fact is that there are so many variables from tank to tank, lighting setup, current, etc. that the same coral may look very different from system to system. Even the big shots these days say "I no longer look at photos and say this is XYZ acro or 123 Monti".

I don't quite agree with this... maybe if your tank is a complete dump you might not be able to recognize a designer coral in there.. mainly because it's brown/bleached/ and or dead... but if that's the case you shouldn't be selling frags anyway....

In a healthy system most of the corals with well established names you can pick out from a crowd... lighting does play a bit of a role, but not to the extent that it makes the coral unidentifiable by its established trade name..

 

[nicks387]

The way I read this was not so much about buying a lineaged piece without lineage but more of selling a wild piece you know is not a named coral and still labeling it as such to make more money.

 

[kevinpratt823]

Can I get a frag of SuperFizz?

 

[nicks387]

I also agree that although some corals can look different from one tank to the next, not all of them do, and even when they do look different you can still tell what it is if you know what to look for.