We stopped by AquaSD in San Diego yesterday and we were really taken by these beautiul large zoanthids with the most awful hobby name. The large zoanthids pictured above have the most beautiful combination of green mouths, green center oral disk, pink outer oral disc and a nebulous mottling throughout the entire face and tentacles. What’s more, the young polyps have an entirely pink mottled face with the green mouth, looking like an entirely separate strain, and likely named differently in some reefing circles. To top it off, these zoanthids are extremely large, probably one of the largest Zoanthus species we’ve ever seen. Compare the full grown polyp in the center to the Protopalythoa “red people eater” in the top edge of the image. The only thing holding these zoanthids back from full on glory in the hobby is a desperately awful name, one which does nothing to describe this strain, nor to convey how unique they really are. So what do you suggest they should be called?
