Haitian Ricordea

[Azurel]

There are some hot color morphs coming from Haiti......For the ricordea collectors what could be the differance between what is collected in Florida waters and those collected in Haiti? Could it be depth of water? Temp of water since it is farther south and closer to equator? I am not sure they seem to be less of a sold color with a solid center color as in Florida's. Haitians from what I have seen coming in allot of times is multiple colors and more of a mottled colors pattern. Let's show some pics and discuss any info that we:
A. Know for fact
B. Show some pics of course again have to have eye candy......
C. See if we can find out and create a data base of info from vendors, collectors(us) and maybe even collectors(divers) have to say about them and the differences in morphs and environments....I know they are same species etc....But with such a large differance in morphology what are the differences and similarities.

Discuss.....

 

[Reef Pets]

They are harder to get and more expensive due to the embargo between Haiti and the USA. I know that is not really part of the discussion but thought I would point it out.
Are they the same species as Florida Ricordea? The "pimple" pattern seems to be much different. You would know more on that subject being that you are a ricordea collector and have some amazing polyps I must say!

 

[condor]

size matters

1 inch

4-5 inch when fully open

 

[gparr]

They had these at World Wide Corals when I was there earlier this year.
Gary

 

[condor]

awesome pic gparr. it looks like i could go bouncing on them

 

[Reef Goddess]

Hopefully I can be allowed to comment on this thread. Shoot me a pm and I'll do sponsorship if needed. ;]


In my experience Haitian ricordia are more rainbowed and tend to come on denser/harder rock than florida ricordia. As of yet I have never seen pink ricordia from Haiti, just various shades of orange and gold.
I rarely ever see orange with green rim ricordia from the Keys. Some divers have told me it exists, but in 5+ years I've almost never seen it. Most all pink/orange ricordia from the Keys have a blue/violet rim.
On the flipside, orange with violet rim ricordia is pretty uncommon from Haiti.

I see a larger variety of color morphs mixed together on rocks from Haiti. I also see more pastels/creams in Haitian ricordia, these may occur in Keys, I'm not sure since I'm not a diver.
Green with violet rim ricordia are more common in Haitian ricordia.
True blue ricordia rarely comes from Haiti.

Polyp size on Haitian and Florida ricordia is similar. Large rocks can have very large polyps with both types.


A few pics, I could go on forever with crazy Haitian pics.

My most amazing ones, they actually look like this in person.

 

[Reef Goddess]

Also meant to add, Haitian ricordia is actually MUCH cheaper than Florida ricordia. You can get a colony with 10-20 polyps for around $100-150, on ebay it'll cost even less.

Florida ricordia costs more than Haitian ricordia does per polyp. But lately divers are selling florida ricordia direct for the same price per polyp that retailers have to pay for it wholesale, sometimes even lower than wholesale price. This might seem really good for you reefers but its really bad for the market. I wonder that florida ricordia won't eventually be over collected if it is going for so little.

 

[Azurel]

Good stuff everybody......Any and all info is appreciated the more info we collect the greater our knowledge is as a whole in every aspect of the industry, hobby, care.....Some my say "So what it's a mushroom." But what do we really know about them? I cannot find any scientific research that has been done on this species so it seems that it is up to us to collect and gather info even if it is not empirical and just observations through long term care in the hobby.

I will have more questions and some observations to discuss, but for me right now sleep is calling.....

 

[Reef Goddess]

The ricordia from Cuba is also very different looking. There used to be some pics around on the web, but I haven't seen them in a long time.

 

[Invert]

The ricordia from Cuba is also very different looking.

I have heard that, and I still am trying to find some pictures.

Reef Goddess.
Thanks for sharing pictures of those very nice looking Ricordea.

Great thread Azurel.
I will be tagging along.

John

 

[SaraB]

Wow, some of those rainbowed ones are incredible! Thanks for the eye-candy fix for the day!

 

[jam3s]

Tagging along. Used to collect quite a bit of rics myself but either melted away or others. Love the pics!

 

[Invert]

With the Ricordea that I have in my Tank.
The first big difference that I see between the Haitian & " Florida " is the Color.
The Haitian has a more Opaque/Solid color as for the " Florida " has a more transparent/See Through color.

I do have a couple " Florida " with Opaque Color, but not close to the Haitian.

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

That is some sweet stuff Morgan.

 

[NaClCrocodile]

The Haitian has a more Opaque/Solid color as for the " Florida " has a more transparent/See Through color.

Good way of putting it. That articulates what those pictures show.

I've never heard of Cuban rics, that'd be interesting to see.

 

[Reef Goddess]

Here's some nice florida ricordia I've had in the past. Most from the Keys aren't nearly this bright.

Ultra rare

Haitian Sour Rainbow ;]

 

[Azurel]

Nice ricordea Morgan......

there is definitely a differance in the depth and intensity(not sure if that is the right word) of colors between them. I was talking to John(invert) and kinda thought about the differance in colors is like the Florida polyps are like being colored with crayon, whereas the colors are thicker and deeper with less transparency...Unlike the Haitian ricordea that seem to have a transparency about them or colored with colored pencil so the colors are not as deep but still rich and eye catching.....


I know that water temp between the two regions are not to differant from one another being they are around the same longitude. I am sure water flow and currents are differant and current might be drastically differant considering that the island of Haiti is farther out into the Caribbean. Could the differences in environment create these differences? I am sure they would over time cause the species to change and morph based on environment especially if there is a spawning event that would carry the fertilized eggs farther out into new regions of the gulf and Caribbean.
I am sure there is spawning events although I have not seen one or heard of one but I cannot imagine there not being one at any point in time.

Are they differant species? I do not think so if one were to look at reticulate evolution, we can have major/minor differance in morphology which through environment pressures make specific genes or traits ore dominant over time leading to the differance in morphology but remain the same species genetically.

Hope that isn't to deep but just somethings I have been thinking about since having acquired ricordea and noticing differances among the polyps that seem to be across the range of the species.

 

[Invert]

One other difference I have noticed:
When feeding,
4 out of my 7 different Haitian Ricordea close up ( Similar to St. Thomas ) while feeding.
My " Florida " Ricordea do not exhibit this behavior.

 

[Azurel]

I have never really had my "Florida" ricordea really eat......Yumas, yes but RF nope.....I might have to try and feed these Haitian rics and see if they will......

 

[Invert]

I target feed ( Mouth ) all of my " Florida " Frozen Adult Brine Shrimp.