For the reccord. Whats the difference between a Zoa and a Paly? My orange ones I think are Zoas, but they grow like crazy and are takinmg over large realestate

Paly's are generally much larger heads ( dime to nickle size ) then Zoas & they tend to have longer thicker stems.

^ If only it were this easy, truthfully even the most seasoned keepers can't definitively identify which is which. Ribosomal RNA sequencing is the only REAL way to differentiate the two.

Although Greg's generalizations are generally true many Zoanthus Gigantus (all of the "people eaters") under that description would be considered palys.

Captain America, Purple death, Nuclear greens, "button polyps" among a few others fall under the Paly realm. It depends on which taxonomic classification your using though, they ALL belong to the order Zoantharia so they are technically all "zoas". I would estimate 80% of the time people use the term paly it's used incorrectly, although a certain vendor here is absolutely brutal for it only adding to the problem.

Ya I was just being very general cause I was waiting for your scientific input :razz: