Is this a zoa?
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littlefoxx
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Zoas! Awesome corals, just be aware they are toxic, just make sure you dont have cuts or anything on your hands when handling themHello,
Sorry I am very new to saltwater tanks, can someone please help me to identify this little guys?
Thank you!
littlefoxx
7500 Club Member
Some people get scared because of that but Ive only ever had mine kill emerald crabs who were trying to eat them! Kind served them right haha. Beautiful corals, easy to keep and colorful! You can put all colors of zoas together and they will grow together creating a garden!
blecki
Well-Known Member
At a glance I would think these are Palys. Zoas are far safer (I don't believe any of the bright colorful ones are known to have palytoxin)
It's hard to tell from the picture; need to see some key features like if there is sand incorporated into the stalk. But these could be a plain strain of kuroshio (your common long-tentacled zao) or some morph of mutuki (paly). I'm leaning toward mutuki based on the ventral line and the specs in the single visible stalk; but the shape and density of the tentacles looks more zoa-like.
Pictures of the stalks, pictures of them closed, and pictures under white lights will help.
It's hard to tell from the picture; need to see some key features like if there is sand incorporated into the stalk. But these could be a plain strain of kuroshio (your common long-tentacled zao) or some morph of mutuki (paly). I'm leaning toward mutuki based on the ventral line and the specs in the single visible stalk; but the shape and density of the tentacles looks more zoa-like.
Pictures of the stalks, pictures of them closed, and pictures under white lights will help.
bertbuss
New Member
They really are beautiful especially at night when only the blue lights are on, a friend gave me 4 different colors of zoas two days ago only two have fully open the other two seem to slowly star opening today he told me it can take a few days for them to settle
littlefoxx
7500 Club Member
Oh yeah you might be right looking at the polyps again
littlefoxx
7500 Club Member
Yes some take a while to open, they will when they are ready
OrchidMiss
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Zoanthus sp. vs Palythoa sp. why so much confusion?
Zoanthus sp vs Palythoa sp Why is there so much confusion and wrong identity in the trade? Soo many zoas like utter chaos, frozen apples, pandoras, bloodsuckers, nirvanas, people eaters etc etc are all incorrectly called "palys" by many hobbyists and even vendors. where as the only...
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littlefoxx
7500 Club Member
My understanding is palys have the little arms on the polyps and zoas dont, am I right? My LFS sells both as “zoas”Zoanthus sp. vs Palythoa sp. why so much confusion?
Zoanthus sp vs Palythoa sp Why is there so much confusion and wrong identity in the trade? Soo many zoas like utter chaos, frozen apples, pandoras, bloodsuckers, nirvanas, people eaters etc etc are all incorrectly called "palys" by many hobbyists and even vendors. where as the only...
blecki
Well-Known Member
Oh dear.
Okay, read up OP: https://reefs.com/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/
See the third picture in the article? https://reefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/palytoxin-reefs-blog-4.jpg
See the distinct symmetry in the face?
I don't think these are literally cf toxica (the kind from hawaii that the legends originate from) but they look enough like the 'other toxic specimens' from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018235 that I would not let them in my system!
Okay, read up OP: https://reefs.com/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/
See the third picture in the article? https://reefs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/palytoxin-reefs-blog-4.jpg
See the distinct symmetry in the face?
I don't think these are literally cf toxica (the kind from hawaii that the legends originate from) but they look enough like the 'other toxic specimens' from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0018235 that I would not let them in my system!
OrchidMiss
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Not necessarily, no.
blecki
Well-Known Member
You mean tentacles? They both have tentacles. In fact the only ones I've seen with nubs instead of tentacles are all palys. Zoas can have tentacles that point up then curl under, like a knuckle. Palys will have something between a nub and a long wavy tentacle but I've never seen them curl.
littlefoxx
7500 Club Member
Yes sorry blanked on the word! Interesting, you learn something new every day
OrchidMiss
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Hopefully you and OP read the links shared and will learn more
Anecdotes from others don't equal facts.
bertbuss
New Member
Well know I am a little scared not sure if I should keep them in the tank at this point, the tank is a 16 gallon nano reef, 6 months old, I have 4 zoas and those little guys and two clownfish, so would you recommend to remove them and re-home them?
19Mateo83
Valuable Member
These look like ones that are called “captain jerk paly”. They are slimy and spread fairly quickly. I have some of these isolated on a rock all by themselves. I believe these are toxic but as mentioned above, just handle with care and don’t boil or eat them and you should be ok.
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Northern Flicker
Valuable Member
I would rehome them. To be honest, I just avoid any of the earthy brown and green polyps all together. Probably will never actually do you any harm but I'd rather not bother. Sprung's story about nuking his entire tank (and then nuking another tank) after he moved some around is enough to always just take the safest route in my book.
