From Latin word “aenigma” meaning “mystery”, referring to the observed facultative epizoic relationship and the specimens’ initially surprising phylogenetic [...]
Sphenopus exilis. Modified from Reimer & Fujii 2016 If you’ve ever kept a reef aquarium, then you’re probably already familiar with the soft corals that are classified within the Order Zoantharia. Included here are the ubiquitous “Zoas” and “Palys” that fill many an aquarium, as [...]
Epizoanthus cf paguriphilus. Credit: Aqua Takeshima One of the most diverse groups of zoantharian corals is also one of the least known amongst aquarists. Epizoanthus is composed of dozens of species, ranging from shallow waters to habitats hundreds of meters deep, from tropical coral [...]
These rarely seen phenotypes are of uncertain identification. That on the left is likely a rare green morph of P. heliodiscus, those on the right appear to be P. cf toxica. Notice the difference in tentacle length. (Continued from Part 1) When it comes to toxic palys, it is the drab brown [...]
The oceans are full of creatures capable of killing us; one of the more surprising marine menaces is a group of popular aquarium corals known variably as “button polyps”, “palys” and “zoas”. Rather than biting us in half or injecting us with some venomous barb, these nefarious [...]
