Best Way to Learn Basic Coral Taxonomy/Identification

[Aquastudent]

Hello WAMAS. I've been in the hobby for a few years now but really only watching from the outside. I've kept a handful of corals from euphilia to stylos to zoas. I've slowly picked up some of the key terminology but have struggled when encountering something completely new (which at this point in my hobby is fairly frequently).

 

I was listening to one of the early episodes of Reef Therapy today and found it refreshing. They were discussing the balance between trade names and scientific names; a lot of information is often lost in the names used, especially if the names falsely identify the coral.

 

As a new member to the hobby, what are some great resources to build up the knowledge foundation to be able to look at a coral and categorize it by a species? Are there good texts that have come out that are current (or a close as possible) to the academic identifications?

 

I want to be a positive contributor to the hobby.

[Aquastudent]

This is a dumb realization but I probably just need to speak up more at a visit to the LFS and ask someone to walk me through the corals

[DaJMasta]

It is particularly complicated because in the last 10 or so years, a lot of corals in the trade have been reclassified - an example is "acans"  used to be Acanthastrea lordhowenises, now Micromussa lordhowenises, and how most euphyllias are no longer actually in the genus Euphyllia Then there's the usual misidentification, confusion in what's actually what, and the artificial division between LPS and SPS that has some practical value but is no real taxonomic distinction.

In any case, another potential resource is Tidal Gardens, they have a youtube channel with a bunch of genus level care tips and seem to be better about using the more modern scientific terms than many vendors.

But the real answer would be this: https://macna.org/coral-id-workshop/ a workshop started a couple years ago by Russel Kelley that is specifically designed around accurate by-eye identification of corals using the most up to date scientific names as exist (though they are continuously changing as genome sequencing is shedding light on how they actually are related).  It's pricey, intensive, and is really aimed at importers and the like moreso than hobbyists, but they will take who wants to go so long as there's space.

The book that comes out of that course is available in a 2022 edition, too http://www.russellkelley.info/print/indo-pacific-coral-finder/

Edited July 15, 2023 by DaJMasta

[ReefdUp]

Agree with the above. The reclassifications are challenging for me, and I considered myself pretty respectable at identifications.

 

My personal strategy is that I have a copy of Veron's "Corals of the World" series. It's a massive three-book set with copious photos and ID info. [And in searching for info just now, I found out there's a new version!]

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/06/25/verons-corals-of-the-world-is-launched-as-online-database/

 

I haven't messed with his website, but it's here: 

http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/synonymy_lookup/?taxonLink=Hydnophora_grandis_sensu_Vero

 

But back when I was getting started in the hobby, I hung out on the "Identification" request parts of various forums and watched people guessing. There was one person that always blew me away (KologneKoral on ReefCentral), so I just watched and learned. 

 

I used to be a strict stickler for the scientific names, but I have certainly found myself very lazy with the renamings. It's extremely hard to not call Homophyllia australis just "Scolymia" or "Scoly." 

 

But no. I wouldn't hang out at a LFS to learn names. I can't begin to tell you how many wrong answers I've heard over the years (and many places haven't kept up with the renamings). A lot of times things are just sold under whatever name the exporter or wholesaler gave it. Instead, I would use the community, and if you get really into it, play the guessing games on various forums with a good resource in hand. You'll get good at it quickly.

 

Now excuse me while I go stare at two corals in my tank that I've never been able to identify properly...

😵‍💫

[Aquastudent]

Thanks guys! Yes, the recent recategorizations are throwing a little bit of a wrench into it but, as a newer hobbyist, at least I don't have a former habit to fall into. I feel like there will be a lot of similarities with freshwater cichlids as new names come out people will end up calling the fish by two different names depending on their background but they all know which animal they are talking about. 

 

I love Tidal Gardens. My struggle with a lot of the species videos is he uses a lot of macro videography which is great but I usually don't see corals from that close. I find it challenging some times to comprehend the scale of the features I am looking at. He does do a great job of explaining things. 

 

I really need to get out to a MACNA or Reefapalooza. I also didn't realize MACNA had a workshop like that. It absolutely makes sense and I hope to get into a course one day.

 

@ReefdUp Haha! I'm curious which two have been stumping you! I'm going to check out those sites but having a hardcopy of Kelly's book also seems beneficial. $63 doesn't seem to bad and is going toward a good cause. 

 

I will ghost some of the ID threads here. Haven't had much of a presence on the more global forums just yet. 

 

Your point about the LFS is actually something that was brought up in the Reef Therapy podcast. Folks making up (or continuing on) a promotional name that's not really intrinsic to the coral. It's rather challenging!

 

I really appreciate the insight and hope to be learning from you all in the future

 

 

[nburg]

If you were to get the Coral Magazine subscription, there is some good articles over the years on how to ID different corals. I particularly liked the articles on IDing maze brains to a genus level. If you subscribe (either print or online only, you still get the whole backlog digitally)

Edited July 25, 2023 by nburg