Corals and designer names.

Super Rare, Grows like a weed... It grows faster then GSP and Shrooms.... Sure that would work well LOL.

I have a Lemon Drop Variation too ... Im still trying to figure out how I have little babies all over the tank, and by all over, I mean all over. It was almost an overnight thing too..

It really comes down to its just a name, people will pay what they think its worth to them. Some people get caught up in the designers items, some not so much.

 

I cant remember where I found it but some guy fragged a paly head. and another one and glued them together... They morphed it was pretty neat. I wish I could find that again.


Still curious if its true LOL

 

Lol, the truth is people will pay almost anything for something that is "shiny"

 

Naming things is a benefit to the hobby. Don't get me wrong, if someone names something in an effort to misrepresent something (calling a coral an ORA coral when it isn't for instance), that is fraud and never a good thing. On the other hand, descriptive names make it easier to talk about corals (if I say I have a superman zoa, we all know generally what colors I'm talking about, if not exactly). Imagine trying to google for "that frag with the blue and the white bits and that spot in the middle that was a little redish."

Making it easier to talk about things makes it easier for us to know what we want. Imagine the difference between wanting blueish corals, and knowing which ORA corals you want. All our fish are named. Their names are descriptive and sometimes involve a little puffery. In spite of that, its still easier to talk about, think about, and plan around what you want in a tank.

Just about every industry names things these days. The reason it is done is the act of naming them is a convenience to customers. Adding value to your product in the form of convenience is a benefit to customers and a benefit to the seller.

In the end its a hobby. I like names. Its fun to know the latin names because they're accurate. It is also fun, however, to know the common names. Even the recently made up ones. They're descriptive and add interest to things.

 

All excellent points.

One of my issues with designer names is getting information on a certain coral. I bought a frag called Langston's Seafoam Acropora. If you google that name you get a few different hits, 2 from the grower and the rest from myself. I have never seen an acropora like it and would like to know care specifics, but that is not going to happen. For instance it prefers lower lighting than most acropora, has PE very similar if not better than Millepora, but I discovered all that through trail and error.

 

I think that the designer names are just taking a piece that say sells for 50 bucks and now its got a fancy name now sells for 150. I just had this conversation with a guy as we were closing down his name. he said that one is popular its called a ..... because its got the name its worth more although years ago it was a ... and now its fancy so it worth more lol.

 

There are some common designer names that are helpful as Servillius stated
it means there are some corals I would instantly recognise from a photo due to the name being in popular culture

but as you say corailline - sometimes names are misrepresented or created for a coral with no actual history of said name

Chalice corals and Zoanthids seem to have the most instances of this
with names cropping up out of the blue and occasionally the item being shown looks nothing like the coral you would find performing a google search on the name given

Steve

 

There is no doubt lack of standardization is a problem. We're early in the process of developing names for corals. Since in many cases, the differences we care about make little biological difference, we don't get a lot of help from the people ( scientists) that did the naming for fish, etc.

Maybe some of the larger aquaculture folks will start developing consistent naming systems that can, over time, standardize in the community. It might even be the case that forums like this are a good place to start coming up with useful names that people respect and rely on. A good taxonomy is the best defense against fraud I think.

 

I agree with John on this one. The name is there to bump prices only. Here's a perfect example.
Not coral but still...

Drs. Foster and Smith Diver's Den® - Hippocampus erectus

Now notice the ORA tag? Look at the price too!

Hmm odd that another breeder has almost the same color variation of H. Erectus for under $200

Unusual - $150.00 :: Seahorse Corral - Home to hundreds and hundreds of fat and happy tank raised seahorses

I could think of a dozen or more corals but this comparison is what came to mind.

 

Oh I agree.

I guess I am learning that people change the name of SW livestock all the time and it is up to the buyer to make the decision to buy the product. In a perfect SW world I just wish it was easier to find information regarding care specifics and you need an accurate ID.

Yes all zoanthids basically require the same care, same goes for other corals like acroporas, but sometimes the subtle difference in care make a huge difference.