The Bowser Paly
Its pretty much the most hyped zoa in the hobby: some say its a super colorful rainbow, others say its just an over-priced over-exposed CAR. The Bowser paly inspires multi page arguments about its lineage and who actually has real Bowsers, but Im hoping that this thread can settle all disputes and become the ultimate Bowser reference thread.
History Of The Strains
Strain 1
This is a picture of Nano Fin's (Zach) Bowser
This picture was posted by primetime back in September of 2009 and is one of the oldest pics of a Bowser on the net.
Strain 2
Ktars Bowsers/Waalaaa Magic Palys lineaged back to Dream Corals
BiG-D's pic with lineage back to Dream Corals
Strain 3
The third strain is propogated by Akwarius over at Planet Zoa. Its a wild strain that maintains all the original characteristics of the original Bowser as far as being a slow grower that needs high light to attain its best coloration. There is a pic on his website but I dont want to steal it so hopefully he will be kind and post one here.
Comparisons betweens Strain 1 and 2
All credit is to Zach (Nano-Fins) for the following info he posted a while back.
So I hope this answered any questions that remained in peoples minds in regards to what are "Real" Bowsers, or it at least gave people some more food for thought in regards to this awesome polyp. If anyone has anymore pics of Bowser polyps or anecdotes regarding its history, post away!
All credit is to Zach (Nano-Fins) for the following info he posted a while back.
Okay, here are a couple images I put together quick. I hope Kien doesn't mind me using his pic for a little demonstration. Regardless of whether his are Bowsers or not, I hope that to anyone viewing these that what I am calling into question is obvious. Tell me you can see an obvious difference between the polyps!
I have blown up and pasted first a picture of one of my baby Bowser polyps (right) and then next to it a small polyp from Kien's pictured colony. Next is a picture of two adult polyps, my Bowser on the left. Notice that in both young and adult polyps of Bowsers, the red is in fact only marginal to the polyp and does not cover any significant surface area. I realize that some CARs, including mine at times, can develop a thin ring of yellow after the green and before the red, but this is never the dominant pigment in a CAR. Please don't say they look exactly the same or I'm going to....to....forever ignore these threads and go back to enjoying my Bowsers, CAOs, and CARs in all their SEPERATE glory, in person.
So I hope this answered any questions that remained in peoples minds in regards to what are "Real" Bowsers, or it at least gave people some more food for thought in regards to this awesome polyp. If anyone has anymore pics of Bowser polyps or anecdotes regarding its history, post away!