As many of us have witnessed, there are lots of coral ‘fads’ that have come and gone over the years. From the early-on craze over the Australian Acan Lords to the tiniest little frag of a Rainbow Echinophylia, there are lots of trends that have affected the industry and therefore skyrocketed prices of certain must-have corals. Just a few years ago, we can vividly recall the hype surrounding the Purple, Red, and then Black Hornet Zoanthids. For better or worse, some of these small yet color-popping polyps brought fourth the introduction of per-polyp zoanthid frags.
We were utterly sticker-shocked when we noticed the bidding war occurring on a two-polyp frag of the “Krakatoa + Emperor” palythoa frag being offered from Golden Basket Reef on eBay. One can’t deny, these are some of the most intensely colored Palythoa polyps we’ve seen as of late.
The “Krakatoa” Palythoa has intense red and violet center that fades into a green oral disk, with skirts that look like they were dusted with red paint splatter. The last single polyp of this paly sold for over $600/polyp!
The “Emperor” Palythoa is quite different, with a green and gold striped skirt and speckled oral disc that looks like the view you’d expect to see through the viewfinder of a telescope. The last frag we’ve seen of the Emperor sold for upwards of $300/polyp.
With these sky-high polyp prices, we have to wonder if the winning bidders of this auction are die-hard Z&P (note: zoanthid & palythoa) collectors, of if it’s the result of basement frag farmers looking to score the latest and greatest in an effort to flip frags for profit. Either way, we can’t deny that some coral collectors mean business and aren’t afraid to drop some coin on the frag of their dreams.
