Purple monster
- Thread starter Mr. Tang
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My PM, came in with a little white spot, still has it but I think it’s doing better
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Man I can’t see anythingMy PM, came in with a little white spot, still has it but I think it’s doing better
Whatcha mean? its on that disk on the tile.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2016
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- 5,348
- Reaction score
- 6,710
I mean I see the shape it’s very dark on my phone
BAUCE
Well-Known Member
Got a piece from Law Office Aquariums that came from Harry's Reef. Harry got it from a guy named Leishman who was apparently one of the original owners? Anyone have more info on that? I found an archived version of his website that is no longer there and am pasting the text and image from it.
"
Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential."
"
The Purple Monstor Coral has been written about and talked about by quite a few reefkeepers now. I thought I would include this Purple Monster Page to give reefkeepers some facts behind the coral. This coral was exported from the Solomon Islands in 1995. Since then, I have seen thousands of corals exported from the Solomons and Fiji. I have not seen this coral in any of those shipments since 1995. There are corals that are similar to the monster and I have given these the name of Purple Monster - Like corals. What is unique about the monster is the shape of the branches which taper to a point with short rounded corallites and its unique intense coloration. In fact one of the corals that came in that 1995 shipment (which unfortunately did not make it) was shaped like a minature christmas tree. The polyps are extremelly small for an Acropora and white. This species is very difficult to keep and has a very slow growth rate. Slow growth rates are typical for corals that are difficult and have very small polyps. I believe there are only a handful of living fragments of this coral with probably less than 6 surviving. I know some people are out there selling purple monstor fragments but what they probably have are purple monster-like fragments. The purple monster coral grows too slow to be a good candidate for farming. If you have recieved a fragment compare it to the above pictures to verify if it is the real Purple Monster.Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential."
Got a piece from Law Office Aquariums that came from Harry's Reef. Harry got it from a guy named Leishman who was apparently one of the original owners? Anyone have more info on that? I found an archived version of his website that is no longer there and am pasting the text and image from it.
"
The Purple Monstor Coral has been written about and talked about by quite a few reefkeepers now. I thought I would include this Purple Monster Page to give reefkeepers some facts behind the coral. This coral was exported from the Solomon Islands in 1995. Since then, I have seen thousands of corals exported from the Solomons and Fiji. I have not seen this coral in any of those shipments since 1995. There are corals that are similar to the monster and I have given these the name of Purple Monster - Like corals. What is unique about the monster is the shape of the branches which taper to a point with short rounded corallites and its unique intense coloration. In fact one of the corals that came in that 1995 shipment (which unfortunately did not make it) was shaped like a minature christmas tree. The polyps are extremelly small for an Acropora and white. This species is very difficult to keep and has a very slow growth rate. Slow growth rates are typical for corals that are difficult and have very small polyps. I believe there are only a handful of living fragments of this coral with probably less than 6 surviving. I know some people are out there selling purple monstor fragments but what they probably have are purple monster-like fragments. The purple monster coral grows too slow to be a good candidate for farming. If you have recieved a fragment compare it to the above pictures to verify if it is the real Purple Monster.
Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential."
Yea leishman is in my area and posts here sometimes maybe he will chime in, that is if it was him your talking about and not another leishman. He was doing the sculptures with cephastrea pieces growing over them on here but I forget his screen name for this board. I will let him know you were asking about this piece. Thanks for posting what you found!
BAUCE
Well-Known Member
Glad to share. Are you in the Bay Area too?
Dana Riddle
2500 Club Member
Purple Monster circa 1997 or 1998. We were blasting it with Iwasaki 6500K light (>800 PAR, if memory serves me) which was shielded for UV radiation. Doesn't need that much light to color up, though. PAR of 300-400 should do it. Slow grower. This specimen came from the Solomons.
Nope dc, is the leishman your talking about from Cali? If so it must be a different guy.
Dana is that piece a wild one from back then or did it have lineage? Looks kinda like a Rosaria. Love that color!
Dana is that piece a wild one from back then or did it have lineage? Looks kinda like a Rosaria. Love that color!
I am very suprised Vernon said it looks like a validia, but I guess he would know best that’s for sure.
Mine grew well back when I had my 265g. Got frags from Robbie (RC TOTM Oct 2003) and Copps (RC TOTM sept 2004 and jan 2011)
I will definitely be adding this to the new set up when ready.
Colony used only for fragging
Display colony
Haha looks like he already posted a few years ago in this thread. Not sure if he still has a piece. Or if he gave a piece to loa years back. I do know rik is an old school acro guy and been around a while.
Dana Riddle
2500 Club Member
That specimen was straight from the Solomons to Aquatic Wildlife in Tennessee. I used Veron's Coral ID software and IDed it as an A. valida.
Very cool!!!
Sublime corals, Steve Tyree was the first to have the purple monster from what I know. Not sure who were the first few to have success with it but I would love to hear if anyone has any stories about it. Steve has a good post about it at one point.
Purple Monster in Marau Sound, Solomon Islands 2003
Abhishek
2500 Club Member
Purple Monster in Marau Sound, Solomon Islands 2003
If only you guys imported a small colony and fragged it up
Dana Riddle
2500 Club Member
I visited Steve when he had his farm in a Laguna Beach (or was it Hills...) apartment. He had a Purple Monster in a 180, if I remember correctly. I'll check my notes...
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