What happened to Dendrophyllia Coccinea?

Echidna09

Echidna09

New member
Hi,

Back in 2009, Dendrophyllia coccinea was a popular coral with a moderate price tag. Now it seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. I saw a frag of this in my friend's tank the other day, and he informed me that it is now illegal, and pretty hardcore illegal too. Like, no one is allowed to sell it illegal. Usually when I hear about illegal corals, they are only illegal to collect, but after that they are fair game. Does anyone have any details about this? D. coccinea is my favorite coral, so I want to know the odds of being able to get a polyp.

Thanks,
Nick
 
I see them in san diego often and have some in my tank I am growing out. The prices have gone up a lot since they began enforcing the law that they cannot be shipped to U S.
 
I was in Austin a few months ago and saw some there. I offered to buy them and they told me they couldn't sell them and it was illegal to do so. I started hoarding these a few years ago and started buying them up from local shops. I have around 30-50 heads in my tank now but have always wanted more. I love these corals! Here is a pic of a few of them.

20131023_223209_zps0739d5bc.jpg
 
Last edited:
They're not illegal at all, you're totally ok selling them in the US.

The thing is people were smuggling Dendros from China through Indo then to the US. They'd just get labeled as regular Tubastrea sp. and passed through customs like that for a long time until they really started cracking down a few years ago. My guess is Fish and Wildlife agents got replaced by people who knew what they were looking at, and now unless you can get those rare CITES usually through Aussie shipments then you're looking at a $10k+ fine each for bringing them in. Similar thing happened with the big Scoly's getting classified as Australomussa in 2011 by USDFW, now they're really few and far between...

Basically they had protections the whole time, it's just hard for customs agents to id corals in a bag so they slipped under the radar for so long that we got used to it and called it normal. There are still places that legally import them but it's expensive and a pain which is why you see them less than before, and either way they are legal to possess and sell in the US. The only thing that would make them problematic to possess and sell here would be if they were on the endangered species list, which they aren't.
 
A couple of wholesalers just brought in a ton of them, they should start popping up all over the place within the next few weeks but with the amount they brought in if you wait it out a bit then chances are prices will drop pretty fast short term.
 
I've seen mixed reviews on reefs2go and had mixed experience myself, but they have them for $1.99 per head right now.
 
Those aren't the fat head dendros, they're the small head ones that could also be sun polyps for all anyone knows, they're pretty scammy there.
 
Yes the are Non-Photosynthetic Stoney corals. They are not Large Polyp Stoney which do have zooxanthellae. In which forum this thread is posted.
 
reefwiser said:
Yes the are Non-Photosynthetic Stoney corals. They are not Large Polyp Stoney which do have zooxanthellae. In which forum this thread is posted.
Click to expand...

They are both LPS and NPS, this forum isn't "LPS with Zooxanthellae only" so they're fine in either one. Not sure why this is even an arguing point lol
 
Agreed. Large polyps with stony base. I pick them up anytime I see them for sale. Awesome specimens.
 
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