Palys VS Zoas

What's the difference between the two?
I know palys are typically larger with longer fringe but what other characteristics separate the two?

They are all in the family Zoanthidae they are just different genus. Heres something that might help you tell the difference Reefs.org: Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet - Zoanthids by Eric Borneman Aquarium.Net January 1998

Hers another one http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...003/invert.htm

good info chris ............and personally, I think the zoas have much prettier colors than the palys do

I agree with you Barb. They are a lot nicer.

Hmmm, Quality or quantity. I agree zoas are prettier but palys seem to multiply quicker and are larger.

i've also found that palys will often out compete zoas for real estate - since they are larger they shade smaller zoas, and they will grow right over the top of other zoas to snuff them out

I've tried to kill my paly's. I even cut them in half and they just grew back together. Wicked little things.

Originally Posted by estanoche

i've also found that palys will often out compete zoas for real estate - since they are larger they shade smaller zoas, and they will grow right over the top of other zoas to snuff them out

Yes, we are going through a bit of that right now. Need to get rid of a bunch.

My palys are the fastes growing things in my tank. i hvae to trim them every 3 months or so they just go wild. I love the color of them just not so many chocking everything out around them.

if I knew then what I know now () I would've stuck with "quality" and just gotten zoas ....the palys do grow fast and choke out the vibrant zoas .........but zoas DO grow fast too - just not as fast as palys..............patience is good

what did you decide, if anything?

I like to put one or two palys on a rock and surround them with zoanthids. That way they don't grow out and ruin a good looking colony.

Originally Posted by rgrking

I like to put one or two palys on a rock and surround them with zoanthids. That way they don't grow out and ruin a good looking colony.

does that really work??? do you have pics of some of yours to show us? .....'cause I do like the look of palys I just HATE how they take over!

I've done it a few times. I think I have one left in my tank that I didn't ship out that's like that. I'll try to remember to get a pic tomorrow.

I trim my regularly and give them away if i can. yet they grow non stop! They do over run things if not kept in check. Zoas by far are better quality!

Originally Posted by icsd71

I trim my regularly and give them away if i can. yet they grow non stop! They do over run things if not kept in check. Zoas by far are better quality!

I have always thought that the ones like this with the "eye-lash hairs" were Palys, not Zoas. My Zoas all have the stubby, plump skirts. All of my Palys have the the skinny eye-lash type skirts and grow like wildfire in the prairie. But I see some places advert them exchangeably. Somebody help me out here?

Generally, that's a good indication between the two.

But there are some in the middle between those two ends- protopalythoa, especially- that have short stubby tentacles.

It has more to do with their stems than the disk or tentacles. Zoa tentacles can be long or short - it all depends on flow. I have some that I had received from another reefer whose tentacles were long and flowy. After being in my nano, that has considerably less flow, the tentacles shrank.

Palys have a long, reaching stem, freckled with white dots (almost looks like tiny flecs of sand stuck to them). They are not "reaching" necessarily for light, they are just always long. Zoas, on the other hand, don't really have a long stem, and if they do that's a good indication they need more light. And they do not have any kind of speckles on them (not to my knowledge, that is, after everything I've researched on them).

Hope this helps!

My picture is of Palys. Sorry for any confusion Lowtechgirl. I posted the pic to show what palys were. These heads are about the size of quarters. Generally and for the most part zoes are way smaller in size . I am no expert but this is what I have seen so far. I have seen zoanthids that have short and long tenticles but no way near the size on the polyps as palys. Also Ladyofirland is right on the size of the stems.

Ehn.. not all palythoa use bits of rubble, sand, or other detritus in their coenenchyme. And they're not always long.

There is a lot of genetic work to be done on this chunk of taxonomy. Even coral biologists have a hard time trying to give a discrete set of characteristics to distinguish between the two (Ryland 2003).

Heck, even the lowly 'yellow button polyps' has only been actually described and named in the last three years- http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02058p061.pdf



Ryland, J. S. & Lancaster, J. E. (2003) Revision of methods for separating species of Protopalythoa (Hexacorallia: Zoanthidea) in the tropical West Pacific. Invertebrate Systematics, 17, 407–428.