Help Needed to Identify Tenius Coral Colony

[OcellarisClown]

I was curious if anyone knew the name of these Tenius or if they even have a name!
I found some photos of some similar sticks, but I wanted to make sure I didn't incorrectly ID them.

Thank you!

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I was curious if anyone knew the name of these Tenius or if they even have a name!
I found some photos of some similar sticks, but I wanted to make sure I didn't incorrectly ID them.

Thank you!

Those appear to be maricultured pieces. They would not have a name as they have no lineage. I don't think the second one is a Tenuis either.

 

[OcellarisClown]

Those appear to be maricultured pieces. They would not have a name as they have no lineage. I don't think the second one is a Tenuis either.

Ohh I see! New reefer here! I understand what maricultured pieces are but what exactly is a lineage or how do species get names?

 

[xiaoxiy]

Ohh I see! New reefer here! I understand what maricultured pieces are but what exactly is a lineage or how do species get names?

Lineaged pieces have typically made the transition to aquaculture/and are from a known retailer or growers.

Unfortunately it's more and more common for people to chop off maricultured corals shortly after acquiring them, throwing on a fancy name and selling them off. More unfortunate are sellers who bring in maricultured pieces, chop em up and try to pass them off as lineaged-named pieces.

Here are BattleCoral's (Adam's) thoughts about maricultured acros: https://battlecorals.com/blogs/blog/wild-fire-and-the-inevitable-after-burn.

 

[OcellarisClown]

Lineaged pieces have typically made the transition to aquaculture/and are from a known retailer or growers.

Unfortunately it's more and more common for people to chop off maricultured corals shortly after acquiring them, throwing on a fancy name and selling them off. More unfortunate are sellers who bring in maricultured pieces, chop em up and try to pass them off as lineaged-named pieces.

Here are BattleCoral's (Adam's) thoughts about maricultured acros: https://battlecorals.com/blogs/blog/wild-fire-and-the-inevitable-after-burn.

That's so interesting!
I have an ASD Rainbow Milliepora mini colony and I saw a maricultured piece with the same trade name as "ASD Rainbow Milliepora" being sold so that got me a bit confused hahahah

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

That's so interesting!
I have an ASD Rainbow Milliepora mini colony and I saw a maricultured piece with the same trade name as "ASD Rainbow Milliepora" being sold so that got me a bit confused hahahah

That's exactly what @xiaoxiy is referring to. Calling a maricultured piece by a lineaged trade name is dishonest and unethical. I would not buy from that vendor going forward.

 

[OcellarisClown]

That's exactly what @xiaoxiy is referring to. Calling a maricultured piece by a lineaged trade name is dishonest and unethical. I would not buy from that vendor going forward.

What I also find more confusing is that some wholesalers and retail stores I've visited have some maricultured pieces that they frag out and put either their own twist on the name or sell the frag as a well-known high end acro. It's hard to distinguish lineage when the frags are less than 1" or if they haven't colored up properly /:

 

[xiaoxiy]

What I also find more confusing is that some wholesalers and retail stores I've visited have some maricultured pieces that they frag out and put either their own twist on the name or sell the frag as a well-known high end acro. It's hard to distinguish lineage when the frags are less than 1" or if they haven't colored up properly /:

Yup! Welcome to the acro game.

The difficult thing with mariculture acros is they have a much higher rate of (1) not holding their color or (2) randomly dying. I think my success rate overall with mariculture/wild acros is only 20%.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

What I also find more confusing is that some wholesalers and retail stores I've visited have some maricultured pieces that they frag out and put either their own twist on the name or sell the frag as a well-known high end acro. It's hard to distinguish lineage when the frags are less than 1" or if they haven't colored up properly /:

Those would be the type of dishonest chop shops that I would recommend staying away from. A vendor should be able to tell you the lineage of any named piece (where they acquired it, and where it was acquired by the vendor they got it from, etc.). It doesn't always have to come directly from the the original naming vendor, but there should be a verifiable trail, If not they should not call it by a trade name. It's fine to say it looks like a trade named piece, but without lineage, there's no way to know for sure. For example I got my Colorado Sunburst Anemone from @FarmerTy who got it from Heather at Elite Reef. Ty provided a copy of his receipt to me so I know for absolute sure that my CSB's are lineaged to Elite Reef.

 

[xiaoxiy]

Those would be the type of dishonest chop shops that I would recommend staying away from. A vendor should be able to tell you the lineage of any named piece (where they acquired it, and where it was acquired by the vendor they got it from, etc.). It doesn't always have to come directly from the the original naming vendor, but there should be a verifiable trail, If not they should not call it by a trade name. It's fine to say it looks like a trade named piece, but without lineage, there's no way to know for sure. For example I got my Colorado Sunburst Anemone from @FarmerTy who got it from Heather at Elite Reef. Ty provided a copy of his receipt to me so I know for absolute sure that my CSB's are lineaged to Elite Reef.

^This is especially true for high-priced lineaged items. I would be very wary of higher-end tenius pieces especially and ask for proof of lineage, there are a lot of mariculture mimics of these out there.

This being said, there is often little to no need for proof of lineage or it can be impossible to track down direct lineage for obvious or more common pieces that have been in the hobby (think Green Slimer, Strawberry shortcake, Red Dragon, Hawkins Echinata, Tri Color Valida, Pink Lemonade and misc). Often times these pieces are either unique enough, common enough, or cheap enough that morphology/coloration alone has been generally accepted for proof of identity.

For example, I am unable to provide proof/trace of lineage of the frags I shipped to you today (i.e Aussie Gold, Pink Cadillac, WWC Yellow Tips, Hawkins Echinata), but they are common enough that their coloration/morphology should be enough verify their identity.

The "Fake Pearlberry" I shipped you in the as a freebie, is an example of unproven lineage. It was originally sold to me as an ORA Pearlberry without proof of lineage. As it has grown out, I don't think it resembles a Pearlberry either. As such, I now call it "Fake Pearlberry" so that it's non-lineage is clear.

 

[OcellarisClown]

^This is especially true for high-priced lineaged items. I would be very wary of higher-end tenius pieces especially and ask for proof of lineage, there are a lot of mariculture mimics of these out there.

This being said, there is often little to no need for proof of lineage or it can be impossible to track down direct lineage for obvious or more common pieces that have been in the hobby (think Green Slimer, Strawberry shortcake, Red Dragon, Hawkins Echinata, Tri Color Valida, Pink Lemonade and misc). Often times these pieces are either unique enough, common enough, or cheap enough that morphology/coloration alone has been generally accepted for proof of identity.

For example, I am unable to provide proof/trace of lineage of the frags I shipped to you today (i.e Aussie Gold, Pink Cadillac, WWC Yellow Tips, Hawkins Echinata), but they are common enough that their coloration/morphology should be enough verify their identity.

The "Fake Pearlberry" I shipped you in the as a freebie, is an example of unproven lineage. It was originally sold to me as an ORA Pearlberry without proof of lineage. As it has grown out, I don't think it resembles a Pearlberry either. As such, I now call it "Fake Pearlberry" so that it's non-lineage is clear.

I order from a lot of "not-so-well-known" websites and ask to see their mother colony from which the frag was cut from and it's always interesting to see how colors of acros change depending on your tank parameters.
When this color-change happens, red->greens/pink->purple, I do have the thought of "what if what they sent me wasn't the actual true lineage"?
But it's good to now know to be more wary of maricultured pieces or "shady" vendors since I know there's a ton of "off-brand" high-end acros out there unfortunately.

 

[OcellarisClown]

Those would be the type of dishonest chop shops that I would recommend staying away from. A vendor should be able to tell you the lineage of any named piece (where they acquired it, and where it was acquired by the vendor they got it from, etc.). It doesn't always have to come directly from the the original naming vendor, but there should be a verifiable trail, If not they should not call it by a trade name. It's fine to say it looks like a trade named piece, but without lineage, there's no way to know for sure. For example I got my Colorado Sunburst Anemone from @FarmerTy who got it from Heather at Elite Reef. Ty provided a copy of his receipt to me so I know for absolute sure that my CSB's are lineaged to Elite Reef.

I found these sold as "JF Homewrecker" but I'm just not sure hahahah

 

[xiaoxiy]

When this color-change happens, red->greens/pink->purple, I do have the thought of "what if what they sent me wasn't the actual true lineage"?

When in doubt, never hurts to ask for proof of lineage. Especially for 0.5-1" frags that sell for >$200 .

I think the most frustrating thing is when vendors sell maricultures at premium prices under the guise of named-lineages, especially given the lower survival rate of maris/wilds compared to true aquacultured frags. In short, you end up paying $$ for something with fake lineage and has a higher chance of dying.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I found these sold as "JF Homewrecker" but I'm just not sure hahahah

Just ask the vendor about the lineage on them. They both look like they could be HW. It is a very widespread coral these days.