why do frogspawn look so different now?

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

There are currently 11 recognized species of Euphyllia.

Nothing has "changed", we're just seeing more species coming into the trade with higher frequencies.

Frogspawn is a common name I've seen applied to 4-5 species over the years, but is most commonly stuck to E. divisa (wall) and E. paradivisa (branching).

The "nubs" species you're seeing is most likely E. cristata.

 

[cmac330]

Not to be rude, but Euphyllia glabrescens is most commonly referred to as torch coral. E. divisa and E. paradivisa are frogspawn and while I agree that that E. cristata are a mystery to most people that see them, I generally see people mistake them for "torch" coral. I do see people confuse "octospawn" (E. yaeyamaensis) for frogspawn that are "nubbed" as their frequency in the hobby has greatly expanded in recent years. However, based on the posters original picture I do believe that the issue he is raising is one I have seen become more common in recent years. Euphyllia aren't quite given the same respect they once were, as sps reefs have become all the rage they are more an after thought and are more prominent in beginning reefers tanks. When unhappy polyp expression in Euphyllia species is often malformed and far from full. I know the genus still has several fans out there and I am not suggesting that people no longer care for them, just that the high tech experienced reefers have focused their attention elsewhere and with the price drop on most of the species more beginners are taking the chance on them. This is also one of those instances where I think the fragging boom has hurt the hobby as some of (obviously not all of) the garage shops and frag-and-trade junkies don't quite take care of their product at the same level as reputable retailers (obviously not all retailers are great either) and have led to an influx of low quality corals into the market. Obviously with the advancements in today's reef tanks these corals can easily be revived into healthy specimens, but the original offering is often in sub-par condition. Sorry about the soapbox detour, anyways just wanted to avoid any confusion with the misinformation on the species identification (which, knowing stunreefer's reputation, was probably just an accident)

 

[jetmaker]

Go back 10 to 20 yrs ago they may have sold you a torch and had it labeled as frogspawn lol.

 

[Vaughn17]

As of 2014, Indo E. paradivisa is on the ESA list. Not sure if it's listed as endangered or threatened but it can no longer be imported.

 

[kimba]

Wow, call me crazy or nieve, but I had no clue there were so many species of one kinda of coral. I guess it's like flowers and you can get into the scientific name. This is all so interesting. I have been seeing more of the octospawn mentioned, those come in so many colors.

It's times like this I wish I had a bigger tank. =)

 

[TheHarold]

So I went to the LFS and the frogspawn was actually 49.99. It was on the same shelf as all the $25 ones so I thought it was 25. Oh well. so after the trade and I had a 5$ coupon, it cost me 19.99.

I love it. not a great picture though.

$50 for a single head of frogspawn?!?! Those are $8 here in Florida! Stinks

 

[kimba]

$50 for a single head of frogspawn?!?! Those are $8 here in Florida! Stinks

Yup, I can find them for 10-20$ on line, but then 40-50$ for shipping. It really does stink. But with the trade in (which was free for me) and the coupon, I was happy. =)

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Not to be rude, but Euphyllia glabrescens is most commonly referred to as torch coral. E. divisa and E. paradivisa

Thanks! Had a brainfart typing that out

However, based on the posters original picture I do believe that the issue he is raising is one I have seen become more common in recent years.

Not sure I agree here. To me the first picture is pretty clearly E. cristata. The O.P.'s mention of "weird looking" is simply thinking it should look like E. para/divisia.

 

[cmac330]

It could be E. cristata but the coloration is awfully strong as most that I have had are translucent and typically have some stripping running up the sides of the tentacles. I also have not had a high frequency of split tips
on them. I know that Golden Marindo has a stock picture very similar to the OP that they call E. cristata, but I tend not to trust them too much as a wholesaler, despite their tendency to have some high quality stuff. One of their photos shows some of the skeleton and the first order septa are not as pronounced of blades as is seen in this species and is a definining characteristic (but I could be missing it as that is not the focus of the picture, however I don't think I am). It is funny how often large retailers/wholesalers mislabel their stock photos and is quite frustrating, my personal favorite is saltwaterfish.com using a stock photo of Heteractis magnifica (Ritteri/Magnifica anemone) for Entacmaea quadricolor (bubble tip anemone), and I want to say that they are operated/owned by Sea Dwelling Creatures.

 

[ou12004]

I have a few different ones green with purple tips, purple with green tips, splattered green and purple, a yellow Octo and one that each head grows a different color and they all propagate differently.

 

[kimba]

It could be E. cristata but the coloration is awfully strong as most that I have had are translucent and typically have some stripping running up the sides of the tentacles. I also have not had a high frequency of split tips
on them. I know that Golden Marindo has a stock picture very similar to the OP that they call E. cristata, but I tend not to trust them too much as a wholesaler, despite their tendency to have some high quality stuff. One of their photos shows some of the skeleton and the first order septa are not as pronounced of blades as is seen in this species and is a definining characteristic (but I could be missing it as that is not the focus of the picture, however I don't think I am). It is funny how often large retailers/wholesalers mislabel their stock photos and is quite frustrating, my personal favorite is saltwaterfish.com using a stock photo of Heteractis magnifica (Ritteri/Magnifica anemone) for Entacmaea quadricolor (bubble tip anemone), and I want to say that they are operated/owned by Sea Dwelling Creatures.

This is what prompted my question in the first place. Mislabeling or not naming corals corectly. The picture I posted was of a frogspwan I owned about 11 yrs ago. long story short, after loosing all my LPS Corals in a crash, I only kept softies. Wanting to get back into LPS I started looking for frogspawn and they looked TOTALLY different then what I remember. So I thought the LFS was labeling it wrong and I didn't want to have a coral I didn't know how to take care of, or maybe couldn't even keep in a 12 gal. But after doing more research, found out it WAS a frogspwan (of some sort) and was just wondering WHY it looked so different. I ended up going back to the LFS and purchasing it (even though I thought itmlooked wierd) and I actually love it! Each tenticle puffs up and really flows with water movement.

 

[Bpultz]

See I think we get a few different sub groups in the hobby. Not even different species but maybe a different gene came out and that's what became common in an area. Etc.