Explanation on How Zoas Get Their Names

buddythelion

New member
Hello fellow reefers!

I posted this in another forum but I know a couple of you guysknow me for being a zoa addict and I thought this would be an entertaining read for my fellow reefers. So I was trolling the zoanthids section of another forum and ran across a very interesting topic, asking what does a zoa name really mean (it was interesting because the reefer is a researcher interested in genetics and wanted to see if all zoas were lineaged back to one name)? To save him the trouble I wrote a brief explanation... That got a bit longer with a 1st edit.. and then longer with a 2nd... and then a 3rd... and then turned into "I see this question pop up so many times" and remembered I haven't contributed much to the zoa community so yolo and WHA-BAM! Another blog post story time thingy again... Hooray for coral education!!! So, for those who have always asked and wondered "where do names come from and etc" this is my take and understanding on it after being in the game for the couple of years I've been collecting corals. I hope that it helps.

For most reefers, the names are just references for people to know what kind of zoa it is and what it looks like. Names are used so people will know exactly what the morph will look like, mostly for collecting purposes. For example, what if I said "I've been looking for this specific orange zoa for yeaaaaars, do you happen to have it?" and had no photo to show you. If there were no names, imagine how much work it would take to try to play detective and describe the zoa and google through hundreds of photos with the search "orange zoa." Ugh! No way Jose. But if I said Utter Chaos, you would automatically know what they look like. And that is the reason why the "name game" exists. For reefers who are not avid collectors, then the name game does not matter as much to them since they are not in the act of collecting. They only buy what they like whether online or in person (and they tend to have actual reef displays and not tanks that look like frag tanks LOL. You collectors know you're guilty of frag-tank-display-itis!!!). However, if they ever want to find an exact morph of a zoa without the name that's associated with it... gg.

Now, we'll go over about why the names are kept on certain pieces, even if it's a wild piece. If a wild colony of zoa that has the same look as an already named morph came in again, it should also keep the same name. Candy Apple Reds are a good example. They are a "higher end" morph that many collectors grow and frag, but they also have come into the hobby as wild pieces within the last couple of years. Just because it's a new colony, doesn't mean it needs a new name. That would defeat the purpose of the naming game, which is to use the name as a reference for the morph. Imagine having to make a new name for a morph that looked the same every time just because "lineage isn't the same." We'd have 1000+ different names for Radioactive Dragon Eyes and Whammin Watermelons!

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The zoa of 1000+ names!!!... Or not.

However, when a reefer's or vendor's name is placed in front of the name it DOES imply lineage and is NOT used as a name reference. This is something that too many people get confused about, and uneducated sellers and vendors end up making a mistake on (and they get flamed :angryfire:). One common and very expensive mistake I can think of at the top of my head is the JF Bloodshots. JF implies that it's the same morph that grew from the original piece that Jason Fox (JF) collected and sold to hobbyist. Meaning that it can be traced back to JF himself. It can either be the first colony he found or even the second (if they look exactly the same). But it NEEDS to have been purchased from JF, since the JF name implies that it came from him. And that's all that JF part of the name means. Now say you go to your LFS and find similar looking pieces come in from the wild. If you purchase them it is NOT okay to label them as "JF Bloodshots" because then it's implied that the piece came from JF when it actually came from another source. However, it is alright though to use the name "Bloodshot" if the morph looks exactly the same and lacks the JF title (but to be honest, I have yet to see anyone find a morph that looks exactly like them). So let's pretend that there was such thing as "Buddythelion Candy Apple Reds" (el oh el, I'd get soooo flamed :angryfire:). Unless you purchased the Candy Apple Reds from buddythelion, you cannot call them "Buddythelion Candy Apple Reds." If you do get a colony of zoas that look just like Candy Apple Reds, then it's cool and acceptable to call them "Candy Apple Reds," for reasons explained in the second paragraph.

Now an interesting area of the name game that people always ask is... well... how a zoa gets a name that actually sticks! There are actually three requirements to this, all of which go hand in hand. They are a) if the morph is new b) specialty and c) popularity. The first requirement (a) is fairly straightforward. If it's an entirely new morph that no one's ever seen, then already it's a "new morph" and can have a new name so people can recognize it when referenced. Now part (b) follows (a), but addresses that it needs to be special. If it's not special, then why bother to even try to look for it in someone else's tank? You could just as easily find what appealed to you say for example... about one pink zoa with another pink zoa. The differences may be subtle, but that wouldn't matter to you. And you'r thinking hey, pink zoas come in all the time... so what's special about them to give them a name? Unless there's some crazy pattern or extra coloration that makes it special enough to be desirable and sought after, then it would stay mostly unnamed. You'd buy it simply because you liked the way it looked. But other than that, you wouldn't really miss it too much if you lost it and would be just as happy with another pink morph.

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Being Special: It's just a pink zoa, I bought it cuz I like pink. What's so special about it that I'd die to find the exact same looking pink ones again?

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Because oh look, yay!!! Pink zoas! They're not exact, but they'll do the job. I'm still just as happy with these.

And the third part, popularity (c), is important because if the zoa isn't popular then no one would be searching for it, which means the name would never stick! If there was a slightly different pink morph that you named as "pink zoa" for your own reference and no one else really sought after your specific pink morph, then it's most likely that the name won't stick and it will be forgotten. Something that some people might think factors into naming is rarity, but whammin watermelons and radioactive dragon eyes already disprove that. But they are popular as proof in the "ID my Zoa" section of almost every zoa community ever lol.

There is another area that isn't exactly so much as to why, when, and how are names used, but it is a part of the name game that brings confusion, and that's renaming a morph. The two reasons why this happens is 1: the seller did not know that the morph had a common name that collectors were accustomed to already and 2: hype. The first case is very common, as there are many people who are new to collecting zoas and don't know if a common name was already established. So thinking it's a new morph, they put a new name on the morph and claim it as their own. Most of the time the collector will properly address the morph with its common name after being flamed and called a noob (usually by other noobs who have also been flamed in the past. Wow so much flaming in this hobby!!! Extra, extra, extra flames!!!!:angryfire::angryfire::angryfire: ). The second part, hype, is made when a vendor wishes to generate more buzz over a morph, usually because the name originally given to it wasn't very exciting. I'm not going to go over examples of this since it's not exactly cool to be using specific vendors for "hype" examples (cuz I dun want them to hat3 meh), but I'm pretty sure a good amount of you know example of this already (please keep examples to yourself and not in this thread).

Hopefully this helps you understand the name game better!

Cheers,
Darwin

Photos of zoas are not mine and were taken off google images. Pretty please don't sue me for copyright infringement.
 
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Explanation on How Zoas Get Their Names:
2: hype.

For me this is pretty much the beginning and the end of the discussion. Otherwise, we would just describe them: "I'm looking for some red zoanthids with blue centers and green skirts."

A while back, I bought a colony of Fire and Ice. Some of the new polyps are developing orange centers. Do I get to name them? How about "Fire and Orangesicles Don't Mix"?
 
an un-named common zoa is $1 a polyp.

the same zoa thats been given an exotic marketing name now just became $25 a polyp

its all about the $$$
 
This post is more valid for like 2009, it's been just plain downright unethical hype like Cowdogz said for a very, very long time.
 
I only pay top $$$ for zoas that look amazing and grow super slow. These are worth collecting imo because nobody has them.. but they die easily.. Like stratosphere zoas... while all my others grew into colony, the single polyp strat remained single polyp after 3 months.
 
Thank you.. I really wondered how the vendor knows it is a specific morph...unlike Chihuahua and cocker spaniels they are a little harder to identity.
 
Some colors and variations are harder to keep and harder to find. The same supply and demand rule that most every other industry deals with applies to the live animals we keep. I have large colonies of rastas, sunny d's, and UC's. I did not buy them for their name, but rather their colors and the fact that not every run of the mill store carries them.
 
100% agree with the points that Cow, Skim and Org have said. Nothing else to add.

Its all about HYPE and MONEY
 
Don't knnow how I came on this old thread but I like it. Valid points on both sides of the argument. For me, I agree that the "name game" serves a purpose to identify for collectors like me. I'm constantly searching out zoas and without the names... Good luck finding what you're looking for.

I do also agree, that many people out there try to use names to their advantage to charge more or try to make their coral more popular , again in an effort to profit. This is unfortunate, however the buyer only has himself to blame for not researching it enough to make an informed decision before buying. Anything you buy coral or car or anything, should be researched before you buy it at least enough to know you aren't being ripped off. And then if the buyer is willing to pay that price, no seller is going to ask less? Want a cheaper coral? Then wait it out until you find it at a price you want to pay. No reason to flame anyone, everyone is free to make their own decision about what they want to buy.

Do I feel like I'm being ridiculously ripped off for buying a rainbow crush chalice? Absolutely. Am I still going to buy one? Absolutely. Would I buy it if it was called red/yellow/blue/green/orange chalice? Absolutely. A lot easier to type rainbow crush into a search bar though. ;)
 
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