I hate this hobby.

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

You know I'm somewhat surprised that the Grammar Gendarme does not refer to them as "zoa's". I forget where I first heard that rant, "They're not ZOOANTHIDS they're ZOANTHIDS so why call them zoos? Zoos are places you might find zoas" (or some such).

I don't know if I would call that a rant, but let's explore this. (post padding )

The first place I saw this controversy mentioned was in Eric Bourneman's "Mything the point". He stated (quite correctly) that we are talking about Zoanthids, not cutesy terms like "zoos", or indeed "zoas".
However, I don't see where Zoas is any more legitimate than Zoos. Both are equally wrong grammatically.
I myself use the word zoanthid, and zoos interchangeably(sp?). It depends if I want to be gramatically correct, or just go with the flow.