Is Zoa ID an inside joke?

[pseudorand]

If so, I suspect this thread will be ignored since I'm spoiling the fun.

It's also a rhetorical question: I think Zoa ID is a joke.

I just spent hours on zoanthids.com trying to identify 7 species of zoas in my tank that I don't know the cutezy names for. Their gallery has 679 pictures (though I'm not convinced they're all distinct). The results:
* I might have Gorilla Nipples, but mine have a much bigger pink ring in the center.
* I might have some Chernobyls, but mine have a smaller yellow ring in the center.
* What I thought were Smurfettes, because Top Shelf Aquatics sold them to me as that (no hard feelings, I love 'em) and I kept careful track of that frag, might instead be Incognitos or perhaps Velvet Empires or Blue Orgasms. There were actually at least two more that looked more like the zoas on my frag than the smurfettes on the TSA site, but those are the three I settled on. That frag was not part of the original 7 I set out to identify, since I though I knew what they were.
* My Radioactive Green Dragon Eyes might actually be Metamorphasis. Or perhaps something else altogether, who knows! (Also not one of the original 7.)
* Not a single one of the original 7 unidentified frags I set out to ID truly looks like any of the 679 species on the site, and 5 of the 7 don't look anything like any of them.

What I'm trying to say is, y'all are just making it up as you go, aren't you!?! And no, I'm not posting pics of my zoas. I don't have the equipment/know-how/patience to get good pics for ID. And you guys will just make something up anyway. "Yea, those look like Pink Ice Cream Sundays' to me. Yup, that's the ticket. I'm sure of it."

That said, my 5 unidentified color morphs are at least as awesome as anything on zoanthids.com. I now plan to retire early in a year or so after selling what I'm sure will be a top notch zoa garden by then for big bucks. That is, of course, if I have the will power not to blow the kids college fund on AOIs, Keds Reds, and Evil Kenivels. Anyone know where I can get any of those? Or know a good addiction councilor? I suspect I could use either at this point.

 

[shwareefer]

First challenge: make up five names.

 

[Spare time]

Yes the names are all made up and don't have any actual significance to them. I think the zoa craze is kinda stupid. People pay insane money for a 1/5 inch dot that glows. "Ooo ahh"


And the funny thing is, people will fight you over it if they think you are calling it the wrong name and actually get mad/serious about it

 

[pseudorand]

First challenge: make up five names.

Make up 5 names. No googling.

Now remove any that someone has used to sell an actual zoa.

Whoever has the most left on their list wins. No cheating by posting a frag you don't know the name of on your local reef club's for sale list with a name someone else made up.

Mine are:
1. Pink Ice Cream Sundays
2. Foxy Zebras
3. Lily extremes
4. Goblin's feast
5. Yellow sunset firebrand thornhoppers

 

[James_O]

Yes, lol. The same exact zoa might have 5 different names from 5 different venders. It’s all a game. Same thing with naming acro’s and such.

 

[Spare time]

Yes, lol. The same exact zoa might have 5 different names from 5 different venders. It’s all a game. Same thing with naming acro’s and such.

Are you saying that my ultra glazed croissant nebula acro is actually a super chocolate bagel galaxy acro?!?!?!?! I better leave a 1 star review at that lfs I bought it from!

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I can't wait until vendors attach their name to zoa strains

 

[Hooz]

The real problem is, one importer will get a bunch of some "new" zoa in. They are bought by 5 different resellers, and each place names them. Eventually, one name "sticks", but the other 4 people keep selling theirs with their names.

I'm going through that right now with ACC Super Hornets and CS Electric Hornets. The only difference between them that I can tell is who is selling them.

 

[James_O]

Are you saying that my ultra glazed croissant nebula acro is actually a super chocolate bagel galaxy acro?!?!?!?! I better leave a 1 star review at that lfs I bought it from!

All depends on where you bought it, and how much they charged you.

Seriously, I’ve seen the same exact zoas sell for 3x as much on a WWC live sale, as opposed to other venders. It’s all about the name and the popularity of the vender.

 

[Goaway]

Yes, lol. The same exact zoa might have 5 different names from 5 different venders. It’s all a game. Same thing with naming acro’s and such.

Don't insult my unique and one of a kind "ultra zoa paladin ring ranger" palythoas!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Great names, guys. This was fun to read.

 

[Tired]

I think having different names for different strains can be good. If I say I have some Blue Hornet zoas, people know pretty much what I mean. The trouble comes in when different retailers give the same thing different names. Or different things the same name! That one happens sometimes, too.

Also, IMO, zoas with super tiny differences don't need a totally different name. Say I find zoas that are like Blue Hornets, but there's a tiny bit more green/yellow on the frill. I should just sell them as "Blue Hornets with more green/yellow on the frill". Or Blue Hornets. If you have to look super close and compare the photos 5 different times to tell the difference, they don't need to be called different things! Particularly not when sellers have pictures up anyway, so you can see what they look like.

 

[pseudorand]

1/5 inch dot that glows.

"Ooo ahh"

Those would both be great names for zoas.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I only have rostas and utter chaos but everyone knows those.... I got them both @ coral corral (my lfs) for 20$ each. The rostas grow quick, utters are utterly slow!

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I think having different names for different strains can be good. If I say I have some Blue Hornet zoas, people know pretty much what I mean. The trouble comes in when different retailers give the same thing different names. Or different things the same name! That one happens sometimes, too.

Also, IMO, zoas with super tiny differences don't need a totally different name. Say I find zoas that are like Blue Hornets, but there's a tiny bit more green/yellow on the frill. I should just sell them as "Blue Hornets with more green/yellow on the frill". Or Blue Hornets. If you have to look super close and compare the photos 5 different times to tell the difference, they don't need to be called different things! Particularly not when sellers have pictures up anyway, so you can see what they look like.

Nope I don't agree if it is different its different just because its pretty close doesn't make it the same there for why wouldn't it get another name. It just needs documentation with identification available to everyone so that there is no issue...or do the research and know the Suttle differences so when you buy something misrepresented you can say oh no no sir

 

[Just John]

So I had these sweet zoas before anyone else and named them John's fancy yellow circle with a blue dot zoanthids. Some jerk started calling them Scrambled Eggs and it stuck, but I am going to get the name Over Easy on Toast going and that will be the new go to name. Pretty sure they will be worth more then.

 

[pseudorand]

It just needs documentation with identification available to everyone so that there is no issue

So for the serious part of this thread, that's what I'm actually wondering about. Is there some official registry with definitive descriptions? Where? That's how I was trying to use zoanthids.com. ideally I'd want a database were i could type in all the colors from inside to out and have it bring up pics of everything that matches or something like that.

I also pick mushrooms (the terrestrial kind, to eat), and they're at least as hard to differentiate as zoas. In that case, you're literally risking your life if you misidentify something (thought we generally just don't eat things with poisonous look-alikes). So very specific ID of similar things is possible.

 

[Tired]

Nope I don't agree if it is different its different just because its pretty close doesn't make it the same there for why wouldn't it get another name. It just needs documentation with identification available to everyone so that there is no issue...or do the research and know the Suttle differences so when you buy something misrepresented you can say oh no no sir

If two zoas are so similar that I have to be an expert to tell them apart, why does it matter that they're a tiny bit different? If they're nearly identical, the price should be nearly identical, after all. If you go looking right now, you can easily find loads of examples of near-identical zoas being sold by the same exact name, so why do we suddenly decide "okay, gonna put a new name on this one"? It's silly. Not to mention that sometimes zoas change under different lighting. Imagine if we had different names for every possible color combination Utter Chaos can be.

I understand things like "looks like this other morph, but has a distinct ring of another color". That's two different zoas, fair enough. But if the difference is just "is generally half a shade pinker than this other morph", or "the dot in the center is a tiny bit larger", that's nothing.

 

[vtecintegra]

http://www.zoabrary.com/. I don't know if this is any good or not.

 

[kittenbritches]

Yes the names are all made up and don't have any actual significance to them. I think the zoa craze is kinda stupid. People pay insane money for a 1/5 inch dot that glows. "Ooo ahh"


And the funny thing is, people will fight you over it if they think you are calling it the wrong name and actually get mad/serious about it

What kind of animal measures inches in fifths?! Haha