What's the oldest captive SPS lineage?

[Jefe12234]

I hope everyone understands what I'm asking. I'm wondering about some of the corals that were kept way back when SPS were still fairly new to the hobby. I wasn't in the hobby back then, so I don't really know. Are any of them still around today? I know it must be hard keeping track of a coral's lineage as it is propagated and passed along, but are there any known corals that go way back?

[kev apsley]

I know there are some real old ones out there, one that comes to mind is the Tyree Purple Monster

[GSMguy]

Bali green slimmer?

[DFS]

I believe the Stuber’s Staghorn is the oldest strain of Acropora on record. The name Stuber's Acropora is derived from a German aquarists last name that was the first person to successfully maintained Acropora in an aquarium in the 1980's. This coral apparently sprouted from a piece of live rock in Stuber's aquarium. ORA (Oceans Reefs and Aquariums) still propagates this well known strain of Acropora.

Cheers,
Kevin Kohen
Director of LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

[menard]

Back then no designer name applied to the coral.
I have one coral which is dated since 96 still living until now, Tri color valida. That colony would have been a monster by now if no trimmings were made.
I have a lot of old pieces which I gotten from Tyree Dynamic Ecomorphology.. Noel Curry's Scientific Coral, Jeff Turners Exotic Aquaria, Bob Mankin, Garf. All still w/ me.

[dots]

I guess you would have to define your question better to what type of answer you are looking for.

From what I have learned, in the early days it was much simmilar to getting a box of wild pieces today, a box of corals some cool others not. Then the problem became how to keep the suckers and when the husbandry and technology was available the "collectibles" that were named began to pop up.

So are you looking for the "tri-color valida" or "purple tipped acro" that evolved into the named pieces by the first to have it I am guessing, ie: Tubs, the LFS it came from etc....to the catchy names that we recognize today.....or do you want to find out about the more "grass roots" side of the hobby which didn't have a bunch of names and what was popular then?

[reefkoi]

Stubers stag is the oldest still surviving, but for colorful stuff i'd say the tyree purple monster.

[jmaneyapanda]

It almosts eems as if the oldest lines are also the ones which cannot be identified to species. As if the morphology has changed so much from captive propogation that comparison to wild known specimens is improbable.

[Jefe12234]

Originally posted by DFS
I believe the Stuber’s Staghorn is the oldest strain of Acropora on record. The name Stuber's Acropora is derived from a German aquarists last name that was the first person to successfully maintained Acropora in an aquarium in the 1980's. This coral apparently sprouted from a piece of live rock in Stuber's aquarium. ORA (Oceans Reefs and Aquariums) still propagates this well known strain of Acropora.

Cheers,
Kevin Kohen
Director of LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster and Smith

Wow! That's the kind of thing I was wondering about; how long some strains have been in captivity. It's interesting to think that some corals have so much history. I may have to pick one of those up just to be a part of it.

[Justjoe]

Hello,
I have some of the Stuber acropora which was described above. From Dietrich Stubers tank in Germany, I believe it then went to Peter Wilkens tank, then Alf Nilsen in Norway then across the Atlantic to Julians tank, and Julian then sent me a frag in the early 90's and I have some today. I believe the original Stuber colony was started ~1982 but I may be off by a bit.

The other oldy I have is from a purple tip acro I purchased in 1993.
Here is a close up of the coral.



Here is the same colony which is located on the right side of the pic.



Its amazing how far the hobby has come in the last 20 years.

[Jefe12234]

Originally posted by dots
I guess you would have to define your question better to what type of answer you are looking for.

From what I have learned, in the early days it was much simmilar to getting a box of wild pieces today, a box of corals some cool others not. Then the problem became how to keep the suckers and when the husbandry and technology was available the "collectibles" that were named began to pop up.

So are you looking for the "tri-color valida" or "purple tipped acro" that evolved into the named pieces by the first to have it I am guessing, ie: Tubs, the LFS it came from etc....to the catchy names that we recognize today.....or do you want to find out about the more "grass roots" side of the hobby which didn't have a bunch of names and what was popular then?

I was mainly wondering about specific strains that have been maintained to this day with whatever name they might have. But it would also be interesting to hear what kinds of corals were kept in the past and how/why imports have changed. We certainly get more colorful corals nowadays. Or maybe we're just better at maintaining their colors.

[Justjoe]

Originally posted by Jefe12234
I was mainly wondering about specific strains that have been maintained to this day with whatever name they might have. But it would also be interesting to hear what kinds of corals were kept in the past and how/why imports have changed. We certainly get more colorful corals nowadays. Or maybe we're just better at maintaining their colors.

There is a good thread on the history of reef keeping that was recently posted but I can't find it right now. If anyone can find it, please post a link to it.
In the early days in USA it was basically catalaphyllia, euphyllia, trachyphyllia, goniopora and some favia if you were lucky besides softies and mushrooms. Also keep in mind that in Europe they were usually 10 years ahead of us here in the USA, and Alf Nilsen had tanks in the early 90's that would rival todays tanks.
Tube worm rock didn't even acknowledge that they were growing in live porites coral. I'd buy a standard soft coral because on its base rock there were a few individual polyps of a stony coral that would hopefully survive and grow into something. It took a long time for the wants/ needs of the hobbyists to make its way out to the collectors.
Most of the corals seen today were not imported then, but with that said, we are much better today at maintaining these corals and their colors.

[acrodave]

most of the ORA corals go way back

[Jefe12234]

Originally posted by Justjoe
There is a good thread on the history of reef keeping that was recently posted but I can't find it right now. If anyone can find it, please post a link to it.

Yes, please post. That would be interesting.

[Johnsteph10]

I remember having a Stubers stag in the early-mid 1990s....

Wow...nice memory.

[kev apsley]

Nice Joe!

[fishdoc11]

Stuber's stag is the oldest I have heard of as well.

[dots]

There are a number of threads that talk about the lineage of certain pieces.......superman danae is one of them that I have seen on here in recent months.

[Bullredchaser]

Stubers the oldest I know of then the famous Larry Jackson stag which was Valida I believe.