Zoanthid: Encyclopedia - Zoanthid

Zoanthid

Epizoanthidae
Parazoanthidae
Zoanthidae

Zoanthids (order Zoanthidea) are a type of soft coral commonly found in coral reefs all around the world. These animals come in a variety of different colonizing formations and in numerous colors. They can be found as individual polyps, attached by a fleshy stolon or a mat that can be created from pieces of sediment, sand and rock. There are a large amount of different morphs of the same or similar species depending on the location on the reef each colony occupies. Different species are even able to cohabitate the same area and even join stolons creating a unique and colourful colony. Like most corals, they are hermatypic and obtain much of their nutrient requirement from symbiotic unicellular algae called zooxanthellae, and so are dependent upon growing in sunlight. As a result, these corals are usually found not far beneath the surface.

Zoanthid - Dangers

Zoanthids contain the highly toxic substance palytoxin. Palytoxin is the most toxic organic substance in the world, but there is an ongoing debate over the concentration of this toxin in these animals. However, even in small quantities, the toxin can be fatal should it be ingested or enter the blood stream. There is no known anti-toxin.

When propagating any type of Zoanthid in home aquaria, it is advisible to have a dedicated workstation and to thoroughly clean all equipment used, especially if any of the polyps should break open. These chemicals are the only thing that Zoanthids have to protect themselves from would be predators.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Zoanthid", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki