About ReefBook
A catalog and collection-record platform to explore corals, record your specimens, and preserve their provenance.
Keeping coral records, reliably
Corals circulate as a mix of lineages that can share a scientific name but differ in origin. ReefBook aims to keep coral information reliable by organizing species and lineages in a catalog, letting keepers record their own specimens, and making frag provenance traceable as a lineage.
There is no marketplace. ReefBook is not a place to trade, but a place to explore, record, and preserve provenance.
Three pillars
Explore
Explore major corals in the catalog along two axes: scientific classification (taxa) and trade names/lineages. We keep scientific names distinct from field/trade names, and treat lineages of different origin separately even under the same species.
Browse the catalogRecord
Member features let you register the coral specimens you keep, log growth and tank events, and publish them as a collection (currently in preparation). Keep your fishkeeping as photos and a history.
How records workPreserve provenance
Record the lineage created when frags are cut from a mother colony. The origin of a frag is kept as a 'provenance claim', with how well it is supported shown separately as a 'verification status'.
See lineagesHow ReefBook is designed
To keep information trustworthy, we hold to the following.
No lineage from photos alone
Corals can look alike yet differ in origin, and photos alone can't reliably confirm identity. The catalog and records avoid assertions and distinguish information by confidence.
Provenance = claim + verification status
Provenance is not stated as fact but expressed as who claims what (a claim) and how well it's backed (verification status) — for transparency and later verification.
Separate scientific and trade names
We show scientific names (genus/species) separately from community/shop trade names and nicknames. Because nicknames drift, we anchor on the scientific name while also listing them.
You choose record visibility
Specimen and collection records are expected to support visibility settings (private / unlisted / public). The default is private, and publishing is the member's choice.
For information about the operator, see the legal information (Tokushoho) page.
Start with the catalog
Explore major corals — SPS, LPS, soft corals and more — by species and lineage.