Coral lineage...

[Chefwheredyougo]

1.How do people come up with a lineage
2.why is it important to so many reefers?
3.How does one verify that a coral that looks identical to this "JF" or "WWC" is or isn't from that colony?
4. Why does the price rise or fall depending on lineage?

I only ask because I've recently come into possession of 2 corals, one with "JF" in the title, the other with "WWC". They both look great, and were given so me. But when talking to a lfs owner about them, he asked for "proof of lineage, because without it, I would never put them in a tank".

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

Lineage in corals is kind of like pure breeding in dogs. While I dont necessarily agree 100% with it being used to hike up prices, it does remain a valuable tool for keeping track of what the specimen actually is. Take for example some species of acropora- a new aquarist buys it and grows it out in his tank, but the color is off. Because the aquarist is able to trace lineage, when the frags are being sold people will know what it actually is and what they are buying. It's also difficult to track lineage for this reason because each coral can take on a different color form in different tanks (not all the time, but sometimes). This can also be a good bit of info to take in so that you know if something is going on with the specimen.(if your red dragon acro is blue it probably isn't a true red dragon).
Price rise and fall goes a lot into supply and demand, but in certain specimens, you want that lineage. Example- if you buy a Ling Si montipora, you are buying that species for its nodule and rim growth. One year down the road you notice it doesn't have either of those traits and you have been ripped. Another example of rise and fall in price are import and export bans. I believe that the coralcruz torches are mostly Indonesian (correct me if I'm wrong). Indonesia is currently closed on shipping out most anything. Take in to account that his torches are the finest in the trade and no one else is offering them due to bans and you have a price inflation.
Lineage tracing in corals is still fairly new as far as the ornamental trade goes.
Another aspect of lineage tracing is morphing. You buy a gorgeous (fill in the blank) and under certain conditions, its growth pattern and colors completely change. In science this is known as speciation. Something new will always be a hot item with a price...for a time at least.

Besides the aforementioned price hiking, it's a good thing.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

But how would you actually trace the lineage, especially if the color is off? Say someone is selling one of those coralcruze torch frags from their own system that they've grown out for some time, and the color is slightly off. They didn't originally get it from him, but maybe some guy that bought it from some guy that bought it from him. How do you verify it? Show receipts of your paypal invoice and everyone else in between you and him?

I've seen some people, (even here), selling frags for this or that, and other people chiming in, telling them that the name is wrong. "This can't be this whatever, because the real one has a bright green mouth, and yours is pink" etc etc.



For my dogs, I have tons of paperwork that allow me to follow the lineage up to a few generations.
Is there a coral registry or something?

*this is a serious question, I am not trying to troll. Just trying to learn.

Thanks for the reply btw

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

But how would you actually trace the lineage, especially if the color is off? Say someone is selling one of those coralcruze torch frags from their own system that they've grown out for some time, and the color is slightly off. They didn't originally get it from him, but maybe some guy that bought it from some guy that bought it from him. How do you verify it? Show receipts of your paypal invoice and everyone else in between you and him?

I've seen some people, (even here), selling frags for this or that, and other people chiming in, telling them that the name is wrong. "This can't be this whatever, because the real one has a bright green mouth, and yours is pink" etc etc.



For my dogs, I have tons of paperwork that allow me to follow the lineage up to a few generations.
Is there a coral registry or something?

*this is a serious question, I am not trying to troll. Just trying to learn.

Thanks for the reply btw

I too ask questions in the same fashion as Socrates...so no worries!

The best that we can do is keep track of the sales of specimens the best we can. Fortunately for the hobby side of the trade/community, those that deal in high end corals, for the most part, know each other- or at least someone who knows someone. Tracking and tracing of something with exceedingly rare origin isnt hard. The owner will have remembered every frag they have created and who it was sold to. The frags being sold and re-fragged (P1 and P2 generations) can simply be traced back to the original owner and colony.

I understand why this is kind of hard to understand and grasp. Just continue to think of it like dog breeding without DNA or RNA tracing.
I would encourage you to continue your reading and research of said topic and perhaps write an article on your findings and observations.