Real or False Purple Monster???

[1105]

Picked this up from a LFS and the owner had told me it was a real PM. I have looked up on frags.org at the maryae and granulosa and I'm leaning more towards the granulosa but I only had one pic of each to compair it to.

Soo... is it real or fake? I just got it right after the LFS got it in so I'm waiting on it to color up more.

 

[Bebo77]

does not look like it to me...

cant find a good pic online but here is one..

 

[gemini aquarius(t)]

ya i dont know much about them but it looks like the fake one to me

 

[Bebo77]

i hope you did not pay top dollar for it...

 

[ViPeR_930]

I just got it right after the LFS got it in so I'm waiting on it to color up more.

So he got it in one of his regular shipments? Then no, it's not the Tyree PM
It's only the "real" Tyree PM unless you can trace it back to Tyree.

 

[redFishblue]

Looks like a maryae to me.

Either the LFS owner does not know that a "Purple Monster" would not be coming in a shipment or he doesn't care that he's not telling you the truth. Not good either way.

 

[1105]

I believe the frag came in from someone local. I only paid $35 for it so I had a hard time believing it was the real PM. As long as it will still color up nicely, I don't really care which one it is. I just wanted to get a positive ID on it so I knew which coral it was. Thanks

 

[easttn]

Miz well be, it is nice. Your rocks are not colonized yet, I wish tou the best.

 

[Neptune777]

What makes it a PM anyway? What is the exact species name? It is possible that it is the same species of coral......just not directly from Tyree.... Here is the background on this coral and how it came about:

http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/stevepurple.htm

 

[tangwang]

Looks the same to me..... Who cares that it might not have come from Tyree? Doesn't mean its not the same species... Nice find and I hope it does well for you

 

[Neptune777]

I agree Tangwang! There seems to be lots of hype generated from the Pop-Culture names attached to corals....the more hype...the more they cost!!!! Pink Lemonade comes to mind as the front runner right now.

I have a coral that looks identical to the PM in growth structure, growth speed, color, and polyps....but is not the true "Tyree PM" everyone gets crazy about....and guess what? It was pretty cheap!

1105: it looks like the "real deal" to me....enjoy it!

 

[manderx]

Doesn't mean its not the same species

so you're saying that all individuals of the same species are all identical? no variation within the species that might make one individual more 'interesting'? some aren't perhaps more colorful than another of the same species?

the whole point of naming corals is so we can track down pieces of a *specific* coral. so that i can look at a picture of someone's tank and say 'i want a piece of that coral'. not something that some dude who may or may not know the first thing about noticing subtle (or even not so subtle) differences between corals thinks looks just like a pedigreed coral, so he can try to sell it for pedigree prices.

perfect example. i had always wanted an oregon tort because of pictures of this colony.
http://www.oregonreef.com/images/photos/p_010_l.jpg
not something similar, but a piece of this exact coral. with the pedigree name (as long as people understand and respect them) i was able to do that. plus, since plenty of people have it and post pics, i can directly compare it's progress and response to different conditions since we're all dealing with the exact same genes. can't do that with something that 'looks just like it' or a different piece of the same species even.

regardless of all that, that's a fantastic coral for 35 bucks.

 

[sfsuphysics]

so you're saying that all individuals of the same species are all identical? no variation within the species that might make one individual more 'interesting'?

I think he's saying that if it's the same species, I think the original PM was thought to be A. valida although there are plenty of similar looking corals that could easily be mistaken., and it's the same coloration then what's the big hubbub if someone calls it a purple monster. You mention "more interesting", but that level of coloration is not strictly dependant upon the coral's genology but the conditions of the environment it is will sway what happens WAY more-so than DNA, but I guess if people want to keep thinking there's the "chance" it could go back there then more power to them

While I agree naming was given so someone can some sort of "lineage", I doubt this was the case with the PM, the original guy who owned probably said "Wow that thing is huge, it's a monster!" and it happened to be purple, hence Purple Monster. It's the "Tyree LE" stamp that gives it the "uniquness".

But I'm not here to berate the coral aficionados here. And I agree a $35 piece that looks a couple inches tall (maybe more?) is a much better deal than a $120 1/2" frag that you have to wait 2 years to get (Edit: Scratch that... SIX years to wait... just checked reeffarmers).

Bottom line if the original poster enjoys it, who gives one flying **** what it's called. When he gets to be a large coral, call it a Purple Monster if you want, just don't try to pass it off as a Tyree Purple Monster

 

[GreshamH]

The Solomans had/have more PM look alikes to offer then people care to think about :lol:

 

[Neptune777]

Thanks sfsuphysics, that is exactly what I was saying!

 

[manderx]

but that level of coloration is not strictly dependant upon the coral's genology but the conditions of the environment it is will sway what happens WAY more-so than DNA

that is the whole point hit right on the head. you can't judge any coral by how it looks that day in that tank. but you can judge a coral that has a known track record, without even looking at the particular frag you're about to aquire. who cares what it looks like in the seller's tank. i only care about how it's likely to look in my tank.

 

[manderx]

the original guy who owned probably said "Wow that thing is huge, it's a monster!" and it happened to be purple, hence Purple Monster

the official story is that it was handpicked out of a large shipment of several thousand corals.

 

[Malolo]

So... the Solomon Island look-a-likes such as the ones found at RM are A. granulosa? I have one and love it just, would just like to confirm its species.

 

[Neptune777]

I don't think there is any validity to the whole lineage arguement.....no way to truly trace them back to the original owner/founder after it gets shared with lots and lots of people. Not to mention that many just tack on the "Tyree" or "PM" name if it just looks like the original........how in the world can you confirm or deny it's origin at that point? Not like these things come with pedigree papers like dogs and cats.......hey.....now that might be a good way to control the usage of these "Lineage" coral names!

 

[crypticghost]

I hate this whole Tyree thing, he is a genius for what he has done and that is nothing at all...he just bought a cool looking coral and fragged and named it and everyone jumped on the whole bandwagon!!!! Its stupid, people should buy a coral cause they like it, not because it has "LE" attatched to it. Trust me, if everyone stopped the hype of buying these "LE" corals at the high prices, they would drop for all of us, so instead of paying 60 bucks for a frag of "superman" we would pay 20 bucks. Also another downside to this is, is that every small store is jumping on the band wagon and calling everything names and charging huge amounts of money for them. Sucks for our hobby, it is already expensive enough as it is, let alone people driving the price through roof because they name it something like, increadible orange headed purple polyp monster superhero...