Mr_Knightley
2500 Club Member
In the plant world, there is a system of classification known as the Cultivar system.
If someone has a plant that he thinks is unique, he can submit a document with photos and a detailed description of said plant to the "Insert-Plant-Here association" to be reviewed as a cultivar. If it's too similar to another plant, the request is denied, otherwise the cultivar (which he names) is added to the databank where people can look it up and get detailed information about that particular plant, where it was grown, etc.
A similar deal is in place with the Grex system, where a particular cross will be named for the sake of convenience. For example, the cross Nepenthes lowii x ventricosa is shortened to N. x briggsiana. This is big in the orchid world too, as those hybrids are too complex to fit on a tag.
What I'm NOT encouraging is for big vendors to trademark a type of coral as a "cool coral person select ultra exclusive".
What I AM encouraging is for vendors and hobbyists to document genetic strains and put them somewhere easily accessible and free.
This would end the name wars with frags, where vendors get the same colonies from the same importers and give them different names (this is big with torches).
As an example.
You go to a reef show. Three different vendors have the same exact gold torch with pink tips, but they all named them different things. An inexperienced hobbyist would want to buy all three, simply because they are 'different', despite being the same genotype with the same displayed genes.
With a Cultivar system, vendors would decide which ocean it came from (when possible), what traits all the torches share, and what conditions they prefer, then give that genotype of torch a name. Nobody claims it, but that genotype of torch (defined by photos from each vendor who has it) would be known under one name.
This system would apply to most any type of coral. Zoanthids could be better categorized by genotype, hammers and Euphyllia could be sorted efficiently, and even oddballs like Cynarina could be effectively organized.
Again, this isn't a name it and claim it sort of deal. It's to organize corals based on physical and behavioral characteristics for the ease of both vendors and hobbyists. We already do this to an extent with things like 'pandora-type' zoas. What I propose is a list of these cultivars that people can access easily.
Here is an official cultivar submission document from the ICPS. It lists where it was grown, the parentage (or in our case, geographical origin), tendencies for the cultivar, and so on.
Thank you all for reading. Have a wonderful day and God bless.
If someone has a plant that he thinks is unique, he can submit a document with photos and a detailed description of said plant to the "Insert-Plant-Here association" to be reviewed as a cultivar. If it's too similar to another plant, the request is denied, otherwise the cultivar (which he names) is added to the databank where people can look it up and get detailed information about that particular plant, where it was grown, etc.
A similar deal is in place with the Grex system, where a particular cross will be named for the sake of convenience. For example, the cross Nepenthes lowii x ventricosa is shortened to N. x briggsiana. This is big in the orchid world too, as those hybrids are too complex to fit on a tag.
What I'm NOT encouraging is for big vendors to trademark a type of coral as a "cool coral person select ultra exclusive".
What I AM encouraging is for vendors and hobbyists to document genetic strains and put them somewhere easily accessible and free.
This would end the name wars with frags, where vendors get the same colonies from the same importers and give them different names (this is big with torches).
As an example.
You go to a reef show. Three different vendors have the same exact gold torch with pink tips, but they all named them different things. An inexperienced hobbyist would want to buy all three, simply because they are 'different', despite being the same genotype with the same displayed genes.
With a Cultivar system, vendors would decide which ocean it came from (when possible), what traits all the torches share, and what conditions they prefer, then give that genotype of torch a name. Nobody claims it, but that genotype of torch (defined by photos from each vendor who has it) would be known under one name.
This system would apply to most any type of coral. Zoanthids could be better categorized by genotype, hammers and Euphyllia could be sorted efficiently, and even oddballs like Cynarina could be effectively organized.
Again, this isn't a name it and claim it sort of deal. It's to organize corals based on physical and behavioral characteristics for the ease of both vendors and hobbyists. We already do this to an extent with things like 'pandora-type' zoas. What I propose is a list of these cultivars that people can access easily.
Here is an official cultivar submission document from the ICPS. It lists where it was grown, the parentage (or in our case, geographical origin), tendencies for the cultivar, and so on.
Thank you all for reading. Have a wonderful day and God bless.
