Candy Cane ID?

[jgoal55]

Has anyone ever seen these? If so can you tell me what they are. They are in the center of the picture. Saw them at a LFS and they have no idea what they are but they want to sell for $50 a head. I'm tempted to pay it because I have never seen anything like it. bright, neon green center, purple rim, with white stripes.

the picture doesnt do it justice at all.
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[jeep9783]

I beleave those are called kyrpto-nite candy cane...I may be wrong though

 

[ster]

jeep9783;336329 wrote: I beleave those are called kyrpto-nite candy cane...I may be wrong though

Kryptonite is a solid, bright green.

 

[raz0945]

Common Names: Candy coral, Trumpet coral, Bullseye coral (Caulastrea) Pronunciation: CAWL-***-TREE-uh Julian Sprung's book CORALS has some nice pictures of it. I have a red and green one.

 

[jgoal55]

yeah its definitely a candy coral of some sort just trying to figure out exactly which kind....there are many. Gald to see though that I'm not the only one stumped.

 

[weaglereefer]

I say you buy it then share frags so we can all get a closer look.

 

[jennm]

It's either Caulastrea furcata, or Caulaustrea cf. curvata.

Any other name is either a common name or a fancy marketing name that somebody made up.

Jenn

 

[jgoal55]

Thanks Jenn.....is it worth $50 a head?

here is a link that shows one as a furcata.....but no white stripes.

http://www.topreefs.com/gallery2/v/corals/Lps/Caulastrea+furcata.jpg.html">http://www.topreefs.com/gallery2/v/corals/Lps/Caulastrea+furcata.jpg.html</a>

here is a very good picture of what it looks like:

[IMG]http://media.photobucket.com/image/Caulastrea%20furcata/Ecovatch/CandyCaneCoral.jpg>http://media.photobucket.com/image/Caulastrea%20furcata/Ecovatch/CandyCaneCoral.jpg</a>

 

[jgoal55]

au01st;336343 wrote: I say you buy it then share frags so we can all get a closer look.

ok, but you have to come to Miami to pick it up....

 

[jennm]

Is it worth $50 a head? If there's somebody willing to pay that for that morph, then yes.

It's a pretty nice morph. And a pretty big colony. Caulastrea is pretty commonplace but that's, IMO an exceptional specimen. I've seen pinkish-brown (one shade), light green, dark green and even some with the "stripes" - but I haven't seen as many with the stripes.

I've found that with a lot of corals, price is a subjective thing. The more appeal it has, the more it costs. Colorful zoanthids are really not that much different than brown ones - but if they are steel blue the price can go through the roof, because "anybody" can brown ones, but the blue ones are harder to come by...

Caulastrea is an average-priced coral - but I would think a wholesaler would charge more for one like that and label it "ultra" or whatever. Ch-ching

Jenn

 

[jgoal55]

yeah...you are absolutely right. I dont mind paying the $50 so long as I cant get it somewhere else for half that. If the market says $50, then $50 it is. I just wanted to make sure the market wasn't saying $10/head and I was paying $50.

The colony is amazing. It really is. Looks like I may be making a purchase in the next couple of weeks.

 

[jennm]

$10/head for a frag (not a whole colony) of the regular green stuff is about normal, IMO.

$10/head for a whole colony of the plain stuff would be expensive... at some point the "per polyp" price has to give way to a "per good sized colony" price - on any coral.

Jenn

 

[jgoal55]

yeah they told me that for 3 or more heads theyll start cutting deals but i didnt ask how much.....considering how candy canes tend to grow quickly i figured if I buy it ill probably get just one head and feed the heck out of it.

 

[dannybradley]

Check Blastomussa merleti just in case... Candies shouldn't cost that much, but Merleti does. Merleti also grows on stems(as opposed to the more common Blastomussa wellsi) like Caulastrea, but much thinner.

 

[jennm]

While I can appreciate how someone would see a resemblance, it's not a Blastomussa merleti.

Jenn