# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  Coral Pellia

## timebomb

Hi, everyone,

When I was in Karin's fish shop the other day, she also showed me, besides the _Utricularia graminifolia_, a new bryophyte from Tropica. The plant does not come in a pot but it's grown on driftwood. Here are some pictures:




I asked for the name and Karin said it's commonly known as Coral Pellia. I asked for the latin name and she showed me this tag:


I think it's quite obvious from the name on the tag, that Tropica themselves aren't sure of the scientific name. What does "div" stands for anyway? Does anyone know?

I'm probably wrong but the plant looks more like a liverwort than a moss to me. It looks like the Mini-Pellia which the professor has identified as a species of _Riccardia_ some time ago. (read this post).

I intend to bring the plant to the professor but I wonder what I should do after the prof has identified it. I checked Tropica's site but there's hardly any information on the plant. But even without knowing the country of origin, I'm quite sure the professor is able to tell its genus name. What should I do then?

Should I go on to tell everyone the genus name? But why should we identify the plant for Tropica free of charge? Unlike hobbyists who are just curious about the identities of their bryophytes, Tropica is a commercial entity. I'm quite sure they have their own "in house" botanists and bryologists who should have no problems identifying new plants. Frankly, I think they should pay the professor professional fees for identifying the plant but knowing the prof, he will decline payment. 

Anyway, I borrowed a piece of driftwood of the Coral Pellia from Karin and it's sitting in my tank now. I would have paid for it but the price is kind of steep. I'll be meeting the prof tomorrow and I wonder what he will say about this.

Should we do it for free or should we charge? Maybe we should ask Tropica to pay our webhosting fees and save ourselves the trouble of asking for contributions  :Laughing:  But seriously, what do you think?

Loh K L

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## Robert

Hi Mr. Loh,
thank you for these nice pictures. Coral Pelia is already known in Singapore among some hobbyists. It is different from the _Riccardia_ species knows as 'mini pelia". The difference is quite obvious. 

Tropica doesn't seem to care what species they sell as long as they find a way to sell their plants. Some weeks ago I took this picture in a LFS:



All plants of this species got this price tag. You know that Tropica has the right price tags but they didn't seem to care in this case. I told the stuff of the LFS about Tropica's mistake and even they noticed it then. Before nobody cared or noticed it. BTW, I didn't buy any of them because I have more than enough downois. Thanks once again, they came originally from you.

best regards
Robert

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## Madan

I wouldn't be so hard on Tropica Robert, it could have been a Genuine mistake by someone that went unnoticed at the dealers end of the chain.

It's quiet possible that a customer, interchanged the labels by mistake, and you were the first to see it.

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## timebomb

It's probably a genuine mistake but still, it's sloppy. I would expect Tropica to be more careful about the names. 

I'll be meeting the prof later and if he is able to identify the plant, I'll let you all know. I've been thinking about it and I've come to the conclusion we should do it for the sake of the planted tank community. 

Thanks for pointing out that it's not the same as the Mini-Pellia, Robert. But just to be sure, I'll bring both to the professor.

Loh K L

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## RottenApples

Let me give it a shot. The 'div.' in _moss div._ probably means divide or split. Why ? I'm relating it to classical violin scores. When there is the word _div._ in the score, it means that different violinists will play different parts of the score in the same section. If I'm not wrong it comes from the word _divisi_ which is either Italian or French. And hence my deduction. Maybe ' Moss div' means ' a division of a species of moss'. Whatever it is, Coral Pellia still looks cool.

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## timebomb

> Let me give it a shot.


Good shot, Leong and you're probably right. I asked the professor the other night and he mentioned something about "division" too but I forgot what he said exactly. But Tropica got it all wrong. The Coral Pellia isn't a moss at all but a liverwort.

Loh K L

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## Martin

hi guys.

did you actually finish the ID on this. did it turn out to be R. graf?

Moss div. = Moss Diverse.

In danish Div. stands for Diverse, which means well.. diverse...

means that it's a random moss..  :Smile: 

I'm sad to see that the downoi was mislabelled.
It could have been in the packing section, but as is mentioned, an error on the shops part, or a customer.

Mistakes do happen, but rarely fortunately..  :Smile:

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## Martin

From Tropica you can also get:

Anubias div. & Cryptocoryne div.

this is a little cheaper for the shop to buy, but then the shop won't know what plant arrives. Tropica sends what they want and the shop knows this.

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## phiL

I would agree with Symbiot, 
Div stands for diverse in german as well.

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## fabry

Hi guys,
I suppose that 'Moss div.' stands just for Division Bryophyta.
Division is just another word to say Phylum and Bryophyta stands for Mosses.

Previously in plant taxonomy (classification) botanists were used to refer to Mosses, liverworts and hornworts as plants belonging to the Division Bryophyta.

Now (more recently) the Division has been split into three groups.

According to this now the Division Bryophyta refers just to mosses. 

Liverworts are classified as belonging to the Division Hepatophyta 

Hornworts instead belong to the Division Anthocerophyta. 

So, since we do not know what type of classification Tropica is following, we can only suppose that their " Moss Div." can refer to a plant that can be just a moss or to a plant that can be a moss or a liverwort or a hornwort.

Extremely precise and conclusive eh?

Regarding the Cryptocoryne and Anubias I guess it is even worse because, for example, the Cryptocoryne species do not belong to a Division Cryptocoryne but in case to the Genus Cryptocoryne of the Family Araceae.

The Genus Anubias is another Genus of the Family Araceae just like Cryptocoryne.

All the plants producing flowers belong to the Division Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms).

So in this case the term "div" could really mean something different from the term "Division" used in the Taxonomy. 

What a mess.

In any case if Tropica continues to be so precise (  :Laughing:  ) it just means that they can send you any plants belonging to the Genus Cryptocoryne or the Genus Anubias or any mosses or liverworts without specifying further.

If you ask them they can just reply: Where is the problem? We sent you 'A Plant'. 
That is just what you ordered.


P.s. The term Division comes from the ancient latin verb "Dividere" (to divide) 
The entire verb was: divido(I divide), dividis (you divide), divisi (I divided), divisum (divided), dividere (to divide).

That is where the actual verbs: dividere (Italian), to divide (English), diviser (French), dividir (Spanish) come from.
From their common Latin origins. 

O.K. I will not bother you any longer  :Shocked:   :Laughing:  


Best regards,

Fabrizio.

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## Martin

Hi Fabry

you got it right, but wrong.

Tropica sells certain plantgroups cheaper because it will let them choose the plants they sell.

If you order 500 Cryptocoryne div. you get 500 Cryptocorynes, but hosen by Tropica.
Say there's 500 too many of Wendtii, then they will sell those as div. if they have no regular orders.

Div stands for diverse and not division. This is 100%

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## Martin

I believe that Riccardia sp' Coral aka mini pellia has been id'ed as: Riccardia graeffei

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## Green Baron

I have not been following the Riccardia discussion. 
Do we know who ID the plant that is known as Mini Pellia ?

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## Martin

Gan, yes, minipellia aka Riccardia graeffei.
it was id'ed some time ago.

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## Green Baron

> Gan, yes, minipellia aka Riccardia graeffei.
> it was id'ed some time ago.


If I remember correctly Prof Tan confirmed the genus. Do you know who id the species ?

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## Martin

I'm pretty sure it was Tan..
I think Tropica asked him for a positive ID.

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## timebomb

The professor identified the Mini-Pellia as a species of _Riccardia_ but he never said the species is _graeffei_. He did mention though that _Riccardia graeffei_ is a liverwort that is common to Singapore. Take a look at this post to find out more.

I've seen some hobbyists use the name "_Riccardia chamedryfolia_" for Mini-Pellia but I'm not sure who made the identification.

Loh K L

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## Martin

Loh, I am positive that Tan id'ed the Riccardia for Tropica recently.
Please do ask him.

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