This is an interesting zoanthid from deeper water that is most likely a color morph of Zoanthus pulchellus.  The oral disk of the polyp is a striped green color but some polyps may have gaps in the green stripes giving it a speckled appearance.  The mouth is darker green with a light center, and the tentacles are about the same color as the area near the mouth.  .  There may be some variations in the color, but this is a pretty good representation of this color morph.  The picture was taken in sunlight with a standard flash, so it’s not jazzed up by some sort of funky lighting.  This is what they actually look like in the wild, so that’s about what they will look like when they leave our warehouse. 

 

The polyps are small, about a half inch or less in diameter, and the cluster will contain at least 25 polyps, and maybe a few more than that.  We fresh water dip all of our zoo’s when they are brought into the warehouse, and regularly clean, prune, and groom them, but there is always a possibility that they might contain some unwanted hitch hikers, so additional treatment is recommended.  Go to Reefcentral.com for more information on treating and dipping zoanthids.

 

Zoanthids are partially photosynthetic and partially detritus feeders.  Since this morph is from deeper water, it’s used to more subdued  light and a light motion.  This is a fast growing morph and will multiply rapidly if your tank conditions are right.  In the wild it relies mainly on a daily shower of sediment and detritus for it’s nutritional needs,  so you’ll need to regularly dust them with some sort of fine particle food to keep it in optimal health. 

 

Our zoanthids are not mounted on rock, so they can easily be fragged as soon as you get them to make more colonies.