I am going to play devils advocate here for a few sentences. It will probably annoy people but it is my opinion...
I do not agree with selling corals as a certain name when in reality it is not. This is deceptive and will ruin reputations in the hobby community. I am an honest person, sometimes to a fault, but it is just how I am and I cannot take anyone who is dishonest seriously.
With that said, I do not believe the hyping threads do ANY good for the hobby in general. Sure some pictures are posted with the new cool name that has been given to a coral, but who does this benefit? It does not benefit the individual hobbyist as it is only adding to the confusion of coral names to try remember. It doesn't help with the cataloging of the specific corals as people hardly EVER know the scientific name or even part of it. The only people who benefit from the hyping threads are the people selling that specific coral as they use them as a marketing tool to inflate the prices of said coral. Sure there is a new name posted on a coral that has probably been delivered to many different suppliers as remember, the ocean is huge and that was not the only piece of that coral out there... Why would we take the first person who posts a pic and name as a spokesperson for naming and releasing that said coral? Also how can we legitimately say that supplier xyz was the ONLY person to have brought in this coral and give them exclusive naming rights while not allowing the other vendors who received the same coral (from the ocean) and decided to frag it up?
Just an example... A Golden Retriever is a Golden Retriever right? Well not exactly... A Golden Retriever with papers is a Golden Retriever as it has been verified by a governing body that is in place to regulate the claims of breeders. A Golden Retriever pup from two registered Golden Retriever parents is a Golden Retriever ONLY if it comes with registration papers. If no papers exist, you have a dog that looks like a Golden Retriever. If a breeder hands you a paper that says they certify this is a purebred Golden Retriever, sure you have some reassurance. However if the papers are not official registration papers, you still just have a dog that looks like a Golden Retriever... If you breed your dog without papers you just have a dog pups... If I also have a dog without papers, I can say I have a Golden Retriever, but if anyone calls my bluff I will have to say it is just a dog as no official papers exist.
Without the official governing body to regulate the breeds/corals, all you have is a generalization of a name which can be commonly accepted, but not enforced. If a coral "looks" exactly like another coral, you will have the general community saying they have that coral. There is no enforcement against doing this, but people may call you out if something is amiss. They do the same with dog breeds if something doesn't look right. Then you will be required to pull out your papers and PROVE that what you are saying is true, or at least prove you have papers claiming what you say is true. If you have no papers to prove it, people will start to distrust you.
So as far as I am personally concerned, all the SPS corals out there are "no name SPS frags" as no one can show me papers that prove the original lineage of the coral and prove there are no other colonies imported from the same wild coral possibly sold under a different name or no name at all... Sure the name helps us generally describe a coral. If a vendor or private seller is trying to use a name on something that is significantly different, that is not cool. However if similar, it could have been from the same wild colony...
If it looks like a fish, moves like a fish and smells like a fish, it must be a Golden Retriever right?
Also just because I want to pick on my fellow mods... We are not angelic creatures who make no mistakes. We are human like the rest of the members. Mistakes happen and sometimes they are irreversible. I am the first to admit that I have played out the scene in Star Wars where Luke yells "NOOOOOOO!" more than once in my time as a Mod... But sometimes only time can restore balance to the Force and mistakes cannot be unwritten
Rant over...
Trust me when I say this was an honest mistake.
