Taking a walk on the wild side

[AdInfinitum]

So I was in Mississauga last weekend and when I finished up what I needed to do it was after 6 but I drove by the Dundas and Dixie strip and found that Aquatic and Dragon were still open.  Poking around I saw a small Acro frag/colony that was pure white sitting in the bottom of an LPS tank, pure white other than a few hints of interesting looking colour.  Since I love the mystery purchases I asked about it.  It sounded like it was a wild colony that had RTN'd in the centre so they cut it into a couple of pieces to save it. This piece appeared to have stabilised and although the asking price for a TLC piece made me swallow hard...I couldn't resist.

I remembered the words of Obi-Wan Vanacker... "Beware the temptations of the wild side!!  It's promises of sweet rewards will lead you to ruin."

...but I didn't want to leave empty handed so I figured "what the hell...I'll learn the hard way."

Seriously I just wanted to have a hard record of the progression and or demise of this piece and perhaps create a thread for others' accounts of wild (not Maricultured) successes and failures.

After a week in the tank it is not dead yet and no longer pure white.  The process is underway.  Colours are all over the place, some polyps are plain pinkish some are blue (what caught my eye).

Time will tell.... If it lives I just hope it doesn't turn out to be dull.

 

[Thanh]

look like acropora selago

 

[unibob]

If it does well. I suggest a cleaver name, and frags to be grown out to start your legend

 

[benzzz]

Good eye !

Most people would just walk by and not even notice that coral I am sure.  It looks like it is doing well.

 

[AdInfinitum]

look like acropora selago

Thanks, I've been spending a lot of time on the SPS id page at RC but I still find Acro taxonomy subtle and confusing with so many growth variations within species.

Good eye !

Most people would just walk by and not even notice that coral I am sure.  It looks like it is doing well.

I'm surprised how quickly it has started to colour up.  I have bleached chalices and  other LPS and they have sometimes taken months to get their colour back.

 

[Darryl_V]

Nice find.... I dont remember ever saying that wild acropora will lead you ruin, but I do always call it a gamble.  Looks like this one will pay off for you though. 

 

[Reef Hero]

[quote author=Thanh link=topic=8130.msg85736#msg85736 date=1394853034]
look like acropora selago

Thanks, I've been spending a lot of time on the SPS id page at RC but I still find Acro taxonomy subtle and confusing with so many growth variations within species.

Good eye !

Most people would just walk by and not even notice that coral I am sure.  It looks like it is doing well.

I'm surprised how quickly it has started to colour up.  I have bleached chalices and  other LPS and they have sometimes taken months to get their colour back.
[/quote]

Good Luck with it Rob!! Finding proper IDs on acros can be extremely challenging especially if they are rarely seen. In fact many corals are still being given proper IDs even today. There is a lot of evidence showing that corals, especially acros, are reproducing to create what is called a hybrid coral....this new coral will take on new genetics and appearance making it more adapt to modern water conditions..... This is not only occurring in the wild but within captivity as well. I have often been tempted to buy the corals of the world book set....I seen it at lansing coral expo for $350 but that is a hefty price tag and it is very long outdated/out of print.
Knowing the actual coral ID is very cool but to be honest it is rarely ever 100% and it seems that more and more corals are being imported with what I would say is clearly either a wrong ID or a very strong mutation of what used to be that species....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Reef Hero]

Nice find.... I dont remember ever saying that wild acropora will lead you ruin, but I do always call it a gamble.  Looks like this one will pay off for you though.

I find that wild sps seem to be a better gamble than wild lps, zoos, and chalice....atleast for me anyways. I always have much better luck with captive grown/fragged zoos, lps, and chalice than I do with wild ones.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Reef Hero]

look like acropora selago

Definitely a very good guess but man if you look up the acropora selago in corals of the world (as well as other acros too) just look at all the different variations there are in that species alone. Very significant variations when looking at supposedly the same species from Aussie compared to Indo, Phillipines, etc....
I would say that from the pic rob gave us it most resembles the species from Aussie's GBR.....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[AdInfinitum]

Nice find.... I dont remember ever saying that wild acropora will lead you ruin, but I do always call it a gamble.  Looks like this one will pay off for you though. 

Okay, I may have been paraphrasing, but I wouldn't want you to think I hadn't paid attention to what you said about how challenging/risky buying wild pieces can be... 

 

[Thanh]

(it most resembles the species from Aussie's GBR.....)  ;D there a lot of acro in the Great Barrier Reef, so  wht species u think its ?

 

[curiousphil]

(it most resembles the species from Aussie's GBR.....)  ;D there a lot of acro in the Great Barrier Reef, so  wht species u think its ?

Don't usually like speaking for others but I believe he was saying it looks like the GBR variation of a. selago.

 

[benzzz]

Update? Hows it looking?

 

[AdInfinitum]

Update? Hows it looking?

...about the same, gaining more purple blue around the coralites. The polyps that were still white are either pink or bluish now and the one branch bottom right is still green??

Is the purple/blue just regeneration growth or the actual final colour?  I don't know if these things go through stages like that?

If anything happens good or bad I will post for sure...

 

[curiousphil]

Sounds like a good start so far!