You know what really grinds my gears? Over priced, eraser tip sized coral fragments. Often people justify these prices by the coral’s popularity–if the corals are overpriced no one would by them, right?

There is some validity to that notion, but there is much going on here than what people perceive to be supply and demand. Price and value are two distinctly different animals. Unfortunately we understand price well; it hits our bank accounts. We often miss the value piece.

That’s because the invisible hand cures all… except for human stupidity. A large part of this coral stupidity has to do with arbitrary coherence.

I know a bit harsh, accept my apologies in advance, but this stupidity I speak of is not unique to any individual. As humans, we are wired this way; when it comes to value propositions, as in how many dollars am I willing to spend for this item, we’re pretty bad. [Especially in such a small, high friction market that is the ornamental marine livestock industry].

In brief, arbitrary coherence is when we make price anchors on items that are actually arbitrary. Paradoxically, they are also coherent because they effect our current and future valuation of items. If we set a high anchor, even if it’s completely unrelated, we are more likely to spend more money on another purchase.

Arbitrary coherence is often taught in psychology, behavioral finance, and marketing classes because of the power it can have over individual spending. [A popular MIT example is outlined here by Predictably Irrational author Dan Ariely, where the last digits of student's social security numbers influenced the price they were willing to pay for wine.]

So how does this apply to corals? If the OMG LE Chalice coral is priced at $3,000–we have a very high anchor. By comparison, all corals less than $3K now look incredibly affordable. [Similarly, a few weeks later when that same overpriced OMG LE coral is on sale, it also looks like a steal.]

But here’s the catch–the initial price was completely arbitrary. In now way does a sub 1″ captive propagated coral fragment for over $1,000 USD reflect cost drivers such as relative rarity, market demand, survivability or overhead costs. It was just… a number. These extremely high prices are nothing more than marketing.

So before pulling the trigger on that expensive fish, coral or invert, remember to calibrate your pricing anchors. Don’t swing at the high balls and look at value adding factors such aquaculture, length of time in captivity, and customer service.

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Last Wednesday, Scientists from the Mote Marine Laboratory released captive grown corals into the wild, in an effort to restore and restock damaged coral reefs. In total, 138 corals that were grown out and propagated in land based raceway systems were replanted on Florida reefs nearby Coopers Island and at another site near Looe Key.

Specifically, Montastrea cavernosa, Montastrea annularis, Stephanocoenia intersepta, and Siderastrea siderea were replanted.

“Now is an especially good time to do this study because of the cold snap in January,”  said Dr. Kevan Main, director of Mote’s Center for Aquaculture Research and Development. “During that cold event, many of the fragmented corals growing at the inshore release site were lost. This gives us an opportunity to see whether we can jump start the recovery of corals at this site with cultured fragments.”

The corals will be cleaned every two weeks and monitored for growth on a quarterly basis. Already this spring there are plans for a second reseeding.

Here at Glassbox we’d like to give thanks to all those in Florida that have purchased a “Protect Our Reefs” specialty license plate. Revenue from those sales allowed this project and future studies.

[mote, img]

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Gary Parr of Reef Threads has recently shared an extremely simple, but effective tip to help capture corals with maximum polyp extension. It’s particularly helpful when shooting azoox corals–Photograph them in the dark. With a flash of course.

Wanting to get a photo of his Balanophyllia colony in all its glory, Gary set up his camera, focused on the coral with a flash ready to go. The next morning with the lights still off and camera set, he was able to photograph the coral in a beautifully expanded state.

In a similar fashion, the C. californica polyps above were photographed in the dark using a flash. Check out Gary’s (much better) results on Reef Threads.

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Even with all that, for me, the most stand out feature was this lone structure, dominated by LPS with a few sprouting Montiporas on top. The corals themselves are not limited editions, or exceedingly rare. I’d go as far as saying their pretty common. However, their placement and shapes make for a sharp looking coral structure.

While the lower portion is exposed, and perhaps too repetitive with the Scolymia–the rest of the structure is just the opposite. The large Branching Hammer colony compliments and balances the two color strains of Caulastrea.

A similar color palette is then carried over to the Montiporas which are made up of Purple, Green and Orange M. digitata morphs. The softer smoother shapes of the Montipora contrast well with the fleshy LPS and make for a pleasing and natural transition from LPS to SPS. If the branching Montiporas grow in and the lower portions of this structure mature as we expect, this will make for one hell of a coral island.

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Turbinaria reniformis is a hardy, popular and beautiful coral species that adapts quite well to the home aquarium. Most aquarists, however, are not familiar with one of its relatives, Turbinaria heronensis.

Colonies of T. heronensis are like a caricature of T. reniformis, in that the coralites are much more prominent, tubular and irregular. Think of Samy Sosa pre-steroids, and after… only his jaw is a coralite. Just like that, but not.

Turbinaria heronensis is quite rare in the trade, but was recently imported from Australia via Route 66 Marine. The image above is from Route 66′s often updated livestock gallery which can be seen here. We hope this colony of T. heronensis makes its way into aquaculture as this coral has texture and shape that can add diversity to any reef aquarium.

[colony photo by Dr. Veron via aims]

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This tiny Symphyllia wilsoni was found on a much larger colony in one of Reef Odyssey’s grow out tanks. Given some time and that coral nub ought to be a centerpiece coral like this larger red relative. Chalice choppers… don’t get any ideas.

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After many years of growing out in ORA’s Florida based broodstock tanks, Dustin Dorton and Co. have released their newest coral: The ORA Solitaryensis (Acropora solitaryensis). This tabling Acropora species has been in demand since entering the trade, with one of the few available propagated Solitaryensis coming from Steve Tyree.

The new ORA Soli will become available to aquarists starting this week. ORA retailers will begin to see this new coral just in time for MACNA.

Picking up this coral early may not be a bad idea; ORA was quick to share with us that this particular coral has proven an incredibly slow grower. Here’s the description that ORA has given their new Soli.

This month ORA is proud to introduce the ORA Solitaryensis. The base color is a greenish tan and branch tips are light purple with striking green polyps. Branches grow horizontally and fuse together forming a solid plate in the center of the colony with new growth remaining separated. As the colony ages, it grows into multiple layers of horizontal plates. This Acropora is extremely slow growing and after many years of working with it we are happy to be releasing this splendid coral to the public. Frags are approximately 1” and well encrusted on plastic plug.

The slang words Soli and Efflo are often casually thrown around by aquarists, but you will likely encounter fewer Acropora solitaryensis in aquariums than you will Efflos (A. efflorescens). The two can best be distinguished by the tiered table growth that A. solitaryensis exhibits with its fused branches.

ORA Soli – Photoshopped for estimated 20K look

Some aquarists have been waiting for the next real ORA coral that can hold its own against the likes of the Red Planet or Pearlberry. Given that this new ORA Solitaryensis was grown and photographed under natural sunlight and is exhibiting purple tips with fluorescent green tips, this may just be “it”. Accordingly we have photoshopped the original photo to give it a 20k look with coloration more inline with captive corals that share a similar color pallete such as A. nana and A. valida.

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The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and aquarium company EcoDeco BV have teamed up to create one of the most promising aquaculture plans to date. Tim Wijgerde of Coral Science writes,

“Soon, a small-scale coral nursery will be established near Utrecht, The Netherlands, with two test systems having a total volume of 33,600 liters (8,842 USG). During an optimization study of 18 months, the cost-effectiveness of the systems will be determined by measuring coral growth, health and coloration. Other recent innovations such as new lighting technologies and water flow devices will also be part of the test phase.

The plan is to make this aquaculture facility as energy efficient as possible by utilizing new lighting technology such as LEDs and Plasma. In addition they have designed 2 hp propeller pumps that “operate at much higher efficiencies that current aquarium pumps” and are capable of pushing 750,000 l/h at 400w.

We wish them luck in the build out and 18 month cost study–this type of project could drastically change the propagation of corals.

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“Japanese Deepwater Zoanthid” Photos by David Hammontree

Dr. Riemer’s information on the widespread range of these Zoanthus sansibaricus polyps combined with a little logic and legwork with USFWS  provides ample evidence why the overwhelming majority of these zoanthids are not from Japan. Why?

Exporting live coral from Japan adds a tremendous amount of time, costs, paperwork and red tape. It’s not worth this effort when the same coral can be found in popular locales, such as Bali, for much less money and without the legal risk. Never mind the exorbitant overnight freight costs when shipping anything out of Japan. Or the fact that anything over a few mm of scleractinia, which includes calcareous substrate, is illegal to export out of the country and prosecutable in the U.S. under the Lacey Act. Lest we also forget that even coral leaving from one prefecture to another in Japan has its own set of regulations and laws. Just saying…

Often times people claim that these corals are peeled off the rock for this very reason; because with the right export documents, soft corals can technically be exported from Japan. This may be true, but the numbers do not add up. (Nnumerous professional aquarists and stores in Japan state that the few corals that are exported for the commercial trade are done so illegally via a neighboring country. Per comm T. Otake).

If this were true, the corals were shipped with legal paperwork, we would have documentation in the United States of these corals landing from Japan. Right? Turns out the US Fish and Wildlife Service has not seen these Japanese imports like we see on the Internet. It’s piqued their curiosity enough that they have been looking into it for sometime now. Their ‘investigations’ have been more than enough to put this issue on the radar of some major players in the livestock industry.

Is it possible for these polyps to be  truly ‘deepwater’?

Collection of marinelife in the warmer waters of southern Japan is allowed. Any local can jump in with some fins and snorkel. The key difference is that SCUBA is prohibited, unless special permits are acquired. Said permits are also very difficult to get.

James gave us a run down of the laborious and time consuming permit process that he must go through to collect zoanthids while scuba diving and it’s not fun. (Multiple sources from Japan have also told GBD that the majority of SCUBA collection is done illegally.)

Legal matters and paperwork aside, I was presented with the most damning piece of evidence that these corals are not in any fashion “deepwater”. As we often see in aquariums, when Zoanthids are expose to intense light and higher flow rates, they form dense and compact colonies–with little space between polyps. As they grow deeper the polyps spread farther and farther apart from one another. The same is generally true for the Zoanthids living in the ocean. When asked if he thought these colonies were collected in anything relatively deep (10-15m+), James was quick to retort back, “No”.

In time we should find out more on why exactly this polyp spacing occurs; Dr. Reimer’s students are currently researching Z. sansibaricus strains and comparing those from shallow waters to those from deepwaters. “Zoanthids living in deeper waters are also not nearly as colorful as their shallow water counterparts.” He added, “There can be a big difference in color, size and shape, but they are the same species”.

When they find Z. sansibaricus at lower depths, there are fewer polyps as well. James shared some information on a relatively normal colony they collected at 50m that contained roughly 20 scattered polyps. This was the typical case for this species in “deepwater”.

Today, the term “Japanese Deepwater” may just be marketing to describe a type of coral–however the legal and price implications of this branding have allowed sellers to make extreme mark ups where they are not warranted. In addition this practice gives the industry a black eye as colonies of “Japanese” corals appear smuggled into the States.

A big thanks to Dr. James Reimer for taking the time to chat with me regarding this craze and Zoanthids in general. He’s a true ocean lover and dare I say friend of aquarists–at the end of the day, he is happy to see a group of people that love Zoanthids; an animal he’s dedicated so much time to. Hopefully we act on that “love” in a sustainable manner.

You can stay up to date on the latest Zoanthid information from James and the MISE team via their blog. Check it out.

Lastly a proper hat tip is due to Dave @ R2R for sharing these great images of Japanese Deepwater Zoanthids Z. sansibaricus.

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“Japanese Deepwater Zoanthids” Photos by David Hammontree

I had nothing to worry about. The man I spoke with was Dr. James Reimer, also known as the godfather of Zoanthid taxonomy and Professor at the University of the Ryukus in Japan. He spends his days in Okinawa on the beach, in the lab and teaching students at the University.

James is a native of Canada and one cool Zoanthid loving guy. He appreciates a good conversation, good beer, marine life, and has a unique insider’s view on Japanese culture. He is also awestruck with our hobby’s fascination and willingness to splurge large sums of money on “ordinary” zoanthids. “If some of them (locals in the Indo-Pacific) knew what they could get for these on eBay”, he hypothesized, “they’d be rich.”

The timing was extremely coincidental, as cnidarian lover Colin Foord reached out to James just a few weeks earlier while doing leg work for his article in the most recent CORAL Magazine–a great read I might add; certainly one of the better CORAL pieces as of late.

James, or Dr. Reimer to his students, wrapped up his undergrad studies in Canada and through a twist of fate landed a job teaching English in Japan. After teaching for sometime he was ready to pursue his Masters, but didn’t want to throw away his Japanese trained tongue that he had worked so hard for. So he did the logical thing. He resumed his studies in Japan.

Fast forward to today and James is an Associate Professor at the University of the Ryukus where he is part of the MISE team (Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology) specializing in Symbiodinium as well as Zoanthid research and taxonomy. He spends plenty of days on the beach and more often then not, working with one of the most popular reef aquarium animals–Zoanthids. He has now dedicated much of his adult life to these animals. In 2010 alone he has already published 8 Zoanthid related papers, including identification guides and the description of multiple new species.

Given all this, when I was time to bring in a true expert opinion on the “Japanese Deepwater Zoanthid” (or “JDW”) craze, James is unequivocally the single best resource and expert on the matter.

Amazingly the phrase “japanese deepwater zoanthid” returns over 42,000 search results from Google. The phrase has been so over used and over-marketed that it has thankfully begun to die out… but it still lingers. When I contacted James and sent him photos of some of these “JDWs” he was not surprised. Being a true coral fanatic he has a Google keyword alert set on “Zoanthid” and he was well aware of the various polyps, claims of origin, and the murderous prices.

I asked him, “Have you seen these types of Zoanthids in Japan?” The polyps in question were all Zoanthus sansibaricus, a small and vibrantly colored polyp that comes in a variety of morphs and is the species often called “JDW”. These particular images, were links I gathered from around the internet of various retailers selling the said “Japanese Deepwater Zoanthids”.

“Z. sansibaricus?” he quipped, “Yeah they are here, but I’ve seen many more in Indonesia, Australia, the Galapagos, even Hong Kong and Singapore.” He went on to say, “There are 20-30 real common color morphs that can be found anywhere… The majority can be found anywhere.” Many of those “20-30″ were included in the links I provided to James.

 More to come in Part 2

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