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[valid]

you stated:

right now Wellsophyllia is NOT a recognized genus of coral- it has been scientifically proven that it is Trachyphyllia. However, CITES still requires it to be listed as Wellsophyllia and Fish & Wildlife will go through any shipments listing Trachyphyllia to try to find an "illegal" Wellsophyllia- I had that happen to me in January. That's a cut and dry obvious issue- Wellsophyllia is NOT Trachyphyllia.

what was your experience in january - if they had found a suspected wellsophyllia, how would they have known? ie: what exactly are their criteriae for determining the difference - what are they looking for?

[ March 10, 2002: Message edited by: valid ]</p>

[MaryHM]

You know how a "normal" Trachyphyllia, or open brain, is usually a figure 8 type shape and Wellsophyllia has the "sides" of the coral folded in and fused together? That's the difference they're looking for. If they had found Wellsophyllia in my shipment, they would have confiscated it.

[valid]

yup, that's what i thought. i'm not really surprised they look for these. since t radiata occupies a hard substrate unlike other t, it's possible someone should not permit its importation. perhaps beaurocracies (see wwf thread) - CITES and F&W - really do work best?

i support your efforts to work within the system

[MaryHM]

The problem with Wellsophyllia has nothing to do with the substrate it inhabits. If you list it as Wellsophyllia sp. on the CITES, no problem. If you list it under its true genus, Trachyphyllia, problem.

[EmilyB]

I'm still confused...what do I have, something that should be here or not ??

http://members.rogers.com/dbh/dh.html

[MaryHM]

Wellsophyllias are NOT illegal. Wellsophyllia now belongs to the genus Trachyphyllia and the Wellsophyllia genus has been done away with in the current scientific literature. The problem is that CITES still thinks they belong to the Wellsophyllia genus, so if someone lists them correctly as Trachyphyllia on a CITES permit, then they risk getting the "Wellsophyllia" confiscated. If they incorrectly report that it is Wellsophyllia sp., then Fish & Wildlife will let it through.