Aquacultured vs. Propagated vs. Captive Bred

[Tim Tessier]

Hi All,

Seeing as I have some direct experience with importing cultured corals and growing my own. I'll put in my two cents worth, add a few ideas and put in a few questions.

Wild Caught: Whole colonies taken from the reef, these are then either broken down into smaller pieces or sent as one large colony. This is typically what happens for the vast majority of corals.

Propagated or Fragged:
a. Attached: Frags are taken from wild colonies and then attached to substrate. They are allowed to grow onto the substrate and are then sold. Countries presently doing this are Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu. This is mainly performed on Acroporiidae.

b. Unattached: Frags are taken from wild colonies and allowed to heal before being shipped. Countries presently doing this are the Marshall Islands. This is also performed on Goniopora, Lobophyllia, Astreopora and Acrhelia.

I would consider both these methods to be low impact wild harvest.

Vanuatu was taking wild acropora, pocillopora, stylophora that were broken off of the reef during storms and attaching them to substrate and then growing them out and reselling. I would call this zero impact wild caught as these corals would have been dead had they not been picked up.

Some points to consider.

If the divers continually go back to the same colonies to harvest the new growth, is this aquacultured, captive raised or still low impact wild harvest?

Does a colony have to be moved and then regrow in its new location to be considered a mother colony that can be fragged from for aquaculturing purposes? Would the frags be classed as captive raised?

So far this is in the oceans, how about in tanks.

If a wild coral is imported from say, Indonesia, and fragged down on arrival. These frags are then glued to rock and allowed to encrust. Are these Captive Bred?

If a low impact wild caught coral is imported and fragged down on arrival what should the frags be classified as?

If a wild coral is imported and fragged from, then the coral regrows and frags are again taken. Would the second set of frags be captive raised? How could one differentiate between the two different frags?

Now we have the possibility of corals spawning in captivity. The larvae are raised to frag size. Would these be Captive Bred?

What about spat collected from the ocean and shipped to hobbyists. The larvae are grown in captivity to frag size. Would they be classed as Captive grown?

This is a very complex topic. Hence I have given my opinions and tried to ask questions to get some feedback on the various definitions etc.

Happy New Year,
Tim

 

[MaryHM]

There are some terms we're all familiar with. They include the following:
Aquacultured
Propagated
Fragged
Captive Bred
Captive Raised
Farmed

Maybe there are some more...

What do you think are the exact definitions of these terms as they pertain to the hobby?? With corals, we have those which are broken directly off of a wild colony and mounted, those which are broken off as new growth from a wild colony, those which are broken off as new growth from one of those frags, etc...

I'm curious to see your ideas on which type of activity falls under which definition, since each activity is distinct. I feel that someone should standarize these terms so when a hobbyist orders an "aquacultured" animal, he/she can be completely sure of the methods used.

 

[newreefman1]

I think that aquacultured, Captive Bred, and Captive raised are in one category.

Aquacultured could mean wild caught but now thriving in tank conditions cause thats the purest definition, captive bred and raised I would lump together.

Propogated and Fragged are in another category. Both colonies derived off a mother colony that should be described using either the categories listed 1st or wild caught.

Farmed corals are those grown repetively off mother colonies in a growout facility with the purpose of raising and thus propogating and fragging corals.

Interestingly enough, with the exception of wild caught/wild raised corals, all the other categories can basically be lumped together with very slight differentiators.

 

[monkeyboy]

Mary, you have a good point about standardizing these terms, most of them of them can be taken several different ways. Here's my take on it.

Aquacultured: This one can mean almost anything, fragged in someone's tank, fragged commercially in a captive environment, fragged in the ocean (like soloman isl. frags, etc).

Propagated: This one should mean deliberately cultured for resale/trade/show in a captive environment, not out in the ocean.

Fragged: Well, this could have any of the meanings of the 2 above but would also include what happens when fedex drops your box of prize acro's.

Captive Bred: Only one meaning to me, raised from sexually produced offspring, not fragging a piece of coral or snagging free floating larvae out of the ocean and growing them out. For now this could only apply to fish and clams.

Farmed: Propagated (geeze, these terms pop up in every definition as we try to define them!) on a commercial (or home based) farm for sale/trade. Shouldn't matter what method is used for propagation.

Captive Raised: This would include growing out wild colonies and larvae, any kind of growth in a captive system.

 

[JeremyR]

Frags from newly imported wild colonies in my opinion have no business being termed under any of the above.. they should be labeled "wild frags" or "chop shop produce" in my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

Great Question Mary!

Jeremy..... I can not agree more, Chop Shops make me Sick!!!! but you already know that

Here are my opinions

Aquacultured Many Generations of growth in that environment. IE Tank Aquacultured.... is many generations removed from the wild.

Propagated Animals that have been manually manipulated to reproduce whether this be sexually or asexually.

Fragged Corals (I hope there are no fish fraggers

) that have been asexually reproduced. No predetermination of origin can be assumed with just the word fragged.

Captive Bred Sexually reproduced animals in a totally captive enviroment.

Captive Raised Captured or collected wild spawning that is transferred to a captive environment.

Farmed Externally manipulated control of either wild or captured animals in a wild or captured environment.

OK, so It seems that I have presonally chosen very specific definitaions of generic terms.... I am not saying they are right or wrong, just how I choose to define them.

IMO it the the nouns, pronouns and adjectives that prefix or suffix the terms that will help define what kind of animal you are really talking about.... such as Tank, Wild, Captured, Caught, Aquarium, Home Insitu, Caged..... that list can go on and on...

 

[cubera]

All good.....how 'bout "tamed"??

 

[Fredfish]

Just to stir the pot.

...

Does it really matter. There should be two labels:

1. sustainably produced
2. rape&pillage produced, er... wild caught/collected

"wild frags" would be included in the latter category.

Anything else doesn't really matter.

As a marketing tool the label Source country sustainably produced could be used.

Fred.

 

[jake levi]

I have seen all of the terms used, many interchangeably as I assume others here have. I think 'aquacultured' is/has been used genericly for all of the above, but should be used for either offspring of fragged colonies grownout for
culture or results of gamete reproduction either in farmed locations or captive breeding. I think either definition is legitimate.

Chop shop? love the name, also dislike the actuality. It wasnt too long ago though that fragged corals were only available this way, we are maturing I hope.

I would like to see a standardization of these terms, possibly a suggestion list here?

jake

 

[Anonymous]

tagging and tracking aquacultured /maricultured frags initially removed from a wild colony is quite easy, and is absolutely traceable-the initial 'harvest' of the coral is less dependent on individual diver identity,as it is on a time/transfer stamp/tag - a simple tracking # can pinpoint species, area, and collection date of the original 'donor' piece, which can also act as a harvest rate 'check', if necessary


CORL has always subscribed to defining a maricultured coral as:

A coral or sessile invertebrate at least twice removed from the parent colony (C2) and has increased its biomass at least 7 times from the time of its attachment to an artificial substrate each time.

Or:

A coral or sessile invertebrate Raised from collected gametes or spat that is removed from the water and settled out and grown on a artificial substrate in a semi-controlled environment until it reaches a size where it will have a higher chance (better than 50%) of survival if reintroduced into the wild.

If the propagation method is by fragmentation the resulting coral colony is a clone made up of the same genetic information as its donor colony. A cloned colony from a wild donor is abbreviated as (C) a colony from a cloned colony is (C2).








methinks a tagging system of some sort wouldn't be that bad of an idea now, for wild harvested coral, either-it would certainly add some far more accurate data for all regarding extent, volume, and impact of the trade, as well as feasability indication for any proposed 'enforced standards'.

though i don't think anyone should be precluded for implementing their own attempt, if studies don't yet exist, due to confusing, or estimatory, data

how expensive/cumbersome can a ziptied plastic tag be? :wink:

my $0.02

 

[Anonymous]

both of these quotes are taken from a thread in the general reefkeeping forum. Terms really need to be standardized, so everyone is speaking the same language

With emerging technologies there is a need for meaningful definitions that stick. "Tank-raised", "Tank-reared" and "Captive-bred" have been traditionally used by the trade to designate animals whose parents spawned in captivity with the offspring subsequently reared in captivity. They have been used as synonyms of "aquacultured" and "maricultured".

The method of wild harvesting of post-larval animals that are subsequently reared in captivity needs a name.

The term "Tank Raised" has been used extensively by the trade and hobbyists to mean the same as aquacultured, captive-reared, maricultured, etc. - with specific ties to the process happening in a tank.

Try Googling the words Tank Raised. You will see exactly what I mean.

We truly need a good term for the wild-harvest of post larval animals.

 

[JennM]

Wow lots of old threads coming to light...

My interpretation:

"Propagated" : esp. coral, fragmented from coral in existing captive situation, regardless of origin.

"Captive Raised": harvested in the wild as juvinile/larva, and reared in captivity

"Tank-Raised" same as above.

"Aquacultured" Reproduced in a controlled situation, either in the ocean or in an indoor facility

There ought to be some qualifier to chop shops selling their frags - they should be labelled as such: wild harvested colonies, being fragged down.

With fish it's a bit more clear - wild harvested pairs who produce a generation in captivity, produce F1, their offspring produce F2, and etc. It's harder to pin down with animals that reproduce by other means, ie: fission.

JMO

Jenn

 

[middletonmark]

A big difference I find in corals is the wild-frag or new-import frag [whether `chop shop' or recently aquired] VS. the aquaria-produced [fragged/propagated] coral that is now multiple generations/clones in aquaria.

I find it sort of boggling to see aquaria-fragged stuff and ocean-fragged stuff being classified just about the same. Frankly, I feel like I can trust the aquaria-raised in a sense that I have no idea how the ocean-frags will turn out in a tank [or even survive].

On the consumer end ... that's something I see a big difference on. Not that I want to discontinue ocean-fragging ... but yet that's different than the multi-generational frag the guy down the road gives me.

And while they may be very similar processes ... this differentiation I find to be important. As the guy down the road is different than a chop shop, too. Something about a couple generations in aquaria means something to me, I think

---
This whole issue gets into names as well.

Some of the silly names [purple monster, purple people eaters, etc] for corals [esp. zoanthids and SPS] are kinda silly - but are a good thing IMO. Better than attempted scientific names in a sense as they're more likely accurate ... and somewhat denote source. I kinda dislike most `named after person' corals - but then again it is nice to have a clue on it's history in aquaria.

Anyway, before I get too much off subject ... it would be nice for some corals [or all you bring in and frag/trade] to generate some sort of ID - so that that lineage can be known and discussed somehow.

 

[JennM]

I thought somebody was working on a frag database someplace?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow lots of old threads coming to light...

My interpretation:

"Propagated" : esp. coral, fragmented from coral in existing captive situation, regardless of origin.

"Captive Raised": harvested in the wild as juvinile/larva, and reared in captivity

"Tank-Raised" same as above.

"Aquacultured" Reproduced in a controlled situation, either in the ocean or in an indoor facility

There ought to be some qualifier to chop shops selling their frags - they should be labelled as such: wild harvested colonies, being fragged down.

With fish it's a bit more clear - wild harvested pairs who produce a generation in captivity, produce F1, their offspring produce F2, and etc. It's harder to pin down with animals that reproduce by other means, ie: fission.

JMO

Jenn

jenn

corl already has such a program designed and planned out, to be implemented shortly, which will allow for 100% traceability, and 'qualifyability' for farmed coral-called 'c.o.r.l. tracker'.

we're now in the process of researching various style tags for that very purpose-using the criteria i outlined in the post above re: maricultured coral standards

 

[JennM]

I thought there was a hobbyist group creating a database of what was already in peoples' tanks - or maybe I overestimated their organizational skills *g*. I do recall there was a lot of talk about it at the club level, somebody here wanted to start it, but I don't know if it ever got off the ground.

Cheers,
Jenn