DesigDiver
New member
i hope that wasn't a serious question....:uzi:
Australian SPS
- Thread starter Leishman
- Start date
i hope that wasn't a serious question....:uzi:
Ian
I <3 Corals!
What was wrong with the question? It very well could be A. Speciosa...
So true. Unless the corals endemic to our waters, I don't really get what the big deal is. Admittedly our collection practices are good and thats important. But that aside, a lot of the acros we have aren't unique at all.
Ian
I <3 Corals!
So true. Unless the corals endemic to our waters, I don't really get what the big deal is. Admittedly our collection practices are good and thats important. But that aside, a lot of the acros we have aren't unique at all.
Compared to the regular Bali and Indo acros we're used to seeing, they are
Hence our excitement
AgentSPS
New member
Here are two "Echinatas" in my tank. Both are Australian but look very distinct from each other. You decide...
Echinata 'A'
Echinata 'B' and 'C'
slobound
New member
Here are two "Echinatas" in my tank. Both are Australian but look very distinct from each other. You decide...
Echinata 'A'
Echinata 'B' and 'C'
I love the looks of echinata A but both are nice! Great pick ups... need to find one of these for myself :bum:
DesigDiver
New member
DesigDiver
New member
i hate to burst the "aussie" bubble but no where on any wholesale list does it say AUS ...just PNG...and i recall a recent thread by a mate saying him and his friend wanted to start a prop facility in Australia and ship corals to us for cheap and someone chimed in and said there is only 2 facilities that are allowed to do so because of strict rules and regulations....which i can totally believe because unlike some countries...Australia cares about their reefs and i highly doubt they would let anyone pluck so many corals out of their waters...jmo
BLKTANG
New member
It was.:fish2:
AgentSPS
New member
AgentSPS
New member
Here are two "Echinatas" in my tank. Both are Australian but look very distinct from each other. You decide...
Echinata 'A'
Echinata 'B' and 'C'
I will edit my post to say that I now have reason to believe that its possible Echinatas 'B' and 'C' are not Aussie. Regardless its does not really change the argument about species vs variant.
AgentSPS
New member
Depends who you talk to I guess :spin2:
I wasn't inferring that in my comparison post. Still think we are dealing with two different species but am no expert.
AgentSPS
New member
Echinata vs Speciosa
Echinata vs Speciosa
This is a very good guess and only after looking at 'The Book' did I realize it. Most of the corals I have seen labeled 'speciosa' in the past don't look anything like this. Its similar to the gross misidentification of many acros as tortuosas.
Anyhow It most closely resembles echinata but I am going to go out on a limb and say that many, if not most, acros labeled echinatas we have seen prior to these recent aussie ones more closely resemble speciosa. Comparing both in my tank side by side and referencing Veron Corals of the World pgs 424 (speciosa) and 425 (echinata) it becomes pretty apparent looking close up.
You need to focus on the secondary branchlets. On the echinata they are smooth, elongated, and rarely bisected by other branchlets or corrallites.
Echinata: Veron pg 426:
Link:
http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/HTML/001-100/Species pages/26.htm
Speciosa: Veron pg 424
On the speciosa, while it too has secondary branchlets, they are not as elongated nor smooth. Most are bisected by other branchlets or axial/radial corrallites.
<img src=http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/images/701-800/Large/791-07.jpg>
<img src=http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/images/701-800/Large/791-06.jpg>
Echinata vs Speciosa
This is a very good guess and only after looking at 'The Book' did I realize it. Most of the corals I have seen labeled 'speciosa' in the past don't look anything like this. Its similar to the gross misidentification of many acros as tortuosas.
Anyhow It most closely resembles echinata but I am going to go out on a limb and say that many, if not most, acros labeled echinatas we have seen prior to these recent aussie ones more closely resemble speciosa. Comparing both in my tank side by side and referencing Veron Corals of the World pgs 424 (speciosa) and 425 (echinata) it becomes pretty apparent looking close up.
You need to focus on the secondary branchlets. On the echinata they are smooth, elongated, and rarely bisected by other branchlets or corrallites.
Echinata: Veron pg 426:
Link:
http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/HTML/001-100/Species pages/26.htm
Speciosa: Veron pg 424
On the speciosa, while it too has secondary branchlets, they are not as elongated nor smooth. Most are bisected by other branchlets or axial/radial corrallites.
<img src=http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/images/701-800/Large/791-07.jpg>
<img src=http://data.aims.gov.au/coralpages/images/701-800/Large/791-06.jpg>
isseym328
Premium Member
I can see the difference Erik. Thanks for researching it. I'm going to have to go back home later and take a look at a couple of my pieces and see if they are speciosa or echinata.
Also if you look at the maps in Veron (the echinata/speciosa is in Vol. 1) only the echinata could truly be from Aussie. Collecting spots for the speciosa only reaches Papua New Guinea. Not that this matters too much in the trade but there is a distinction.
I will take a look at your pieces in person next month Erik! :wave:
Also if you look at the maps in Veron (the echinata/speciosa is in Vol. 1) only the echinata could truly be from Aussie. Collecting spots for the speciosa only reaches Papua New Guinea. Not that this matters too much in the trade but there is a distinction.
I will take a look at your pieces in person next month Erik! :wave:
AgentSPS
New member
Checked my pieces when I got home. I believe I have both Speciosa and Echinata. If you look at the pics below one has more conspicuous secondary branching than the other. Ignore the color difference but one def has more smooth elongated branching:
What you think Erik?
Like you I think the two look very distinct from each other. I am more inclined to say that the first is more characteristic of echinata. Both beautiful and valuable gems but appear different. Nice shooting BTW.
Now that said, I grew several Ice Fires into decent sized colonies starting from frags. Some of the colonies took on different growth patterns and shapes. Unfortunately I don't have them anymore to compare live to the Aussie echinata. While its possible that different conditions could produce different looking growth patterns, the differences in this case would seem pretty extreme.
Maybe the end result of all of this is that people will now have to seek out both the true echinatas and true speciosas to have a truly complete collection LOL :spin1:
ejocam
CORAL WHOLESALER
They would also need a boat and some serious $$$ to pony up for 1-4 ton coral lease. Let's not forget about a facility to hold the stuff a week or two before it is ready to ship
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