Why do all these corals have ridiculous names?

[Salty Lemon]

It lets you identify what it’s going to look like including color. Just like dogs; there is no species of dog that is specifically a German Sheppard or yellow lab, etc. ; all domesticated dogs are Canis lupus familiaris, but making vendor names makes it easier to identify what exactly you’re getting.

My dog is a terrier/poodle mix. I don't even know what varieties. But if they sold her to me as a "Fuzzy Midnight Jumping Squirt", I would love to tell people her purchased name. I guess we can say the same for corals. EDIT: But no matter what name I have for her -- I enjoy her just as much whether she is a mutt, purebred, or some fuzzy black dog with a fancy name. I would look up the name and Google it for some research if you are unable to find it from the place you purchase it from and then enjoy it.

 

[ScottB]

I don't know if you'll find it helpful or not, but there is quite a bit of info at http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/page/home/ regarding coral taxonomy. For me, I do well at the genus level but when it comes to species it becomes too difficult to determine all but the well known and familiar ones. I think many of our online vendors and hobbyists have the same issue which is why you don't see the Latin names.

As a former San Antonian, just wanted say thanks for that link. Awesome resource!

 

[naterealbig]

Okay then, fair enough. It felt a bit aggressive with saying not to buy from people then. We both know that pretty much everybody uses these names, which pretty much equates to if you don't like the names don't buy coral anymore then...

As far as the debate on names VS prices go, I think it's fair to say that a unique name allows you to gain popularity, which allows price to go up. It's nobody's fault and it's not a direct cause and effect, but it's certainly true that word can spread faster and people have better recall for names like pink cadi rather than trying to describe specific characteristics of an acropora divaricata that you saw and liked. So although I understand why these corals need nicknames or common names in general, it's not necessary to completely omit the scientific name.

Scientific names aren't just randomly attached, they're categorical and describe the coral.

I agree, for sure. In the spirit of helping, I am going through my corals vendor list now and trying to find scientific names for at least SPS..... While many sites I have looked at have them, they are not provided for all corals, or provided consistently... I will keep searching!

One thing I can definitely sympathize with is being forced to guess at the growth patterns/morphology of the corals I am purchasing. In most instances, the picture of a the coral fragment only, is provided on websites (Battle Corals comes to mind as an exception - I still need to verify). For the popular corals that have been around awhile, a quick google search provides results. For new corals it can be very hard/impossible to find the picture of a colony. Just having a picture or even an icon that would communicate a growth pattern would be very helpful.

As has been alluded to already - even if the vendors wanted to, they probably couldn't list the correct species for all of the corals they have for sale. I would also argue that the vast majority of hobbyists would not be able to correctly identify any coral but the most popular ones, with the most distinct growth/coralite patterns/shapes.

 

[Phildago]

I agree, for sure. In the spirit of helping, I am going through my corals vendor list now and trying to find scientific names for at least SPS..... While many sites I have looked at have them, they are not provided for all corals, or provided consistently... I will keep searching!

One thing I can definitely sympathize with is being forced to guess at the growth patterns/morphology of the corals I am purchasing. In most instances, the picture of a the coral fragment only, is provided on websites (Battle Corals comes to mind as an exception - I still need to verify). For the popular corals that have been around awhile, a quick google search provides results. For new corals it can be very hard/impossible to find the picture of a colony. Just having a picture or even an icon that would communicate a growth pattern would be very helpful.

As has been alluded to already - even if the vendors wanted to, they probably couldn't list the correct species for all of the corals they have for sale. I would also argue that the vast majority of hobbyists would not be able to correctly identify any coral but the most popular ones, with the most distinct growth/coralite patterns/shapes.

Yup, exactly. I know that a lot of times the vendors don't actually know what the coral is either, but I'd be willing to bet that somewhere down the line there were people involved that did know the species and omitted it for whatever reason. It would be nice if there was some sort of group effort to include more information about these corals, if for nothing else, consistency. Some of these newer corals its difficult to even determine whether they are all the same. Is every shortcake the same species or is it just a commonly used name? I'm not actually sure, but if there was a species attached to each, then even if wrong it could provide a bit more consistency and a good guess. Over time I think they could naturally become pretty accurate.

 

[Tamberav]

Some of it is so a person can find a certain coral and probably make sense....like Walt Disney or Fox Flame...

Others is marketing. For example calling a Duncan coral "Alien Eye Neon Vomit Duncan" or something is kind of stupid, they are mostly shades of green or purple.

I even saw naming of Maxima clams before... you can't even frag those... come on people!

 

[GregOyeah]

I do agree that the names in theory can help both venders and customers easily remember certain corals. That being said, its gotten a bit out of hand, and if youre gonna tell me theres not a secondary motivation to give a coral a slick name because some rube wants to point at it and brag in his tank, then thats just being naive.

For example. How hard is it to remember or pronounce the name Sarmentosa? its not hard at all.

So why are people walking around calling Sarmentosa's "Cookie Monster" acros? I spent $15 for my sarmentosa, and thats what it was called. People that want a Cookie Monster acro have to fork over $100

 

[hyprc]

I do agree that the names in theory can help both venders and customers easily remember certain corals. That being said, its gotten a bit out of hand, and if youre gonna tell me theres not a secondary motivation to give a coral a slick name because some rube wants to point at it and brag in his tank, then thats just being naive.

For example. How hard is it to remember or pronounce the name Sarmentosa? its not hard at all.

So why are people walking around calling Sarmentosa's "Cookie Monster" acros? I spent $15 for my sarmentosa, and thats what it was called. People that want a Cookie Monster acro have to fork over $100

You have no idea how often one (lets say 'vendor' so I don't tick anyone off) will buy a no-name acro from another vendor, give it an 'exciting' name, put it in their tank, now at a 300% or GREATER mark-up... when the name game becomes pure marketing and not for identification, that's when I start getting bent lol. Otherwise, I totally support the naming of corals for their unique identification and ease of communication in the hobby.

 

[BradB]

I was in the hobby before corals had names. It started innocent enough, green slimer, superman montipora, surf-and-turf acro, oregon tort - more than anything, they described distinctive corals that were commonly available. Somehow, real or not, people got the perception that customers pay more for named corals. So everyone names everything. Some of the names are descriptive, some are creative, and others are just ridiculous.

 

[Deaf clown]

In my Arnold Schwarzenegger voice “you’ve got to understand, it’s marketing” oh and posting a photo blasted with blues and a orange gel filter.

If I like it I’ll end up getting it and if it’s too dang much I’ll wait til the price drops. But when one calls it the “Reef Raft(Asia, Canada, or whatever), Bud Mans, Jason Fox, Unique Corals, World Wide Corals (just to name a few venders that I’ll never buy directly from because $$$$$$) I roll my eyes.

I bought an Orange passion a year ago from a guy who bought from a guy who probably also bought from a guy who may have bought from the originator.

 

[DanConnor]

To describe a variety that has been domesticated long term is warranted. The name we concoct for that clone is much more specific than a latin name, which can cover a lot of phenotypes originating from over a wide range.

Horticulture has been doing it forever, of course.

Where it falls apart is where chop shops tag frags from a wild colony with a name. The solution? Don't buy those.

 

[radiata]

Marketing...

Here's a scenario for a new name:

Giorgio Reefer sees a never-seen-before coral for sale for $500 dollars. It is being sold as a "Never Before". He buys it in the hopes of making a few bucks propagating it to support his (expensive) hobby. A few months later, he has a few frags of "Never Before" to sell. Unfortunately for Giorgio, he finds other reefers are selling the same "Never Before" frags for $100 each. Desperate to make his "investment" back, Giorgio takes photos of his frags, tweaks them a little with Photoshop, calls them the "Rainbow Savior", and posts them for sale for $500 each.

Then, Herbie Reefer sees a never-seen-before coral for sale for $500 dollars. It is being sold as "Rainbow Savior" . He buys it in the hopes of making a few bucks propagating it to support his (expensive) hobby (yada, yada) ...

 

[Ardeus]

A few days ago I tried to make a funny video with stupid names for my corals and I failed, I have had people thanking me for putting the right names of the corals in the video.

 

[bobbyM]

Taxonomy isn’t a “set in stone” science. Corals get reclassified from time to time and are extremely difficult to identify in some cases (Acropora) due to growth morphs in different water conditions wild vs. captive grown. Also, taxonomy does not account for color and that’s differentiates one trade name from another. Mostly important are SPS, LPS, Softy that give you a general idea of water conditions to keep them alive.

video for a better explanation.

 

[Sabbath22]

It lets you identify what it’s going to look like including color. Just like dogs; there is no species of dog that is specifically a German Sheppard or yellow lab, etc. ; all domesticated dogs are Canis lupus familiaris, but making vendor names makes it easier to identify what exactly you’re getting.

You mean those new zoas I just bought are going to look just like gorilla nipples and bambams!! And what color exactly are gorilla nipples and what do bambams look like? LOL,just joking. But it is getting pretty silly.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Great discussion

 

[ZoWhat]

.....because if it was a world where we had to go around spouting off the scientific names, 1) we couldn't pronounce most of them, 2) just plain boring using scientific names