Zoas Taxonomy
Technically Sea Mat is just a common name, as are button polyps, colonial anemones, polyp rock, and false coral all primarily referring to Zoas. All of the Genus in this piece are part of the family Zoanthidae within the subclass Zoantharia in the class Anthozoa. Some of the members in the genus include Palythoa, Protopalythoa, Zoanthus, and Isaurus amongst others. Wilkens (1990) described some 300 individual species, however there looks to be less than a fifth of this realistically. (Borneman 1997) notes that an overhaul is coming in which we will see a reclassification of species, and in some cases genus
Zoas Physical Characteristics
To some extent the physical characteristics of the colony are influenced by it’s habitat of origin. Two identical colonies could appear somewhat different just like we see in other corals. Shorter more compact specimens with smaller mouths for the most part come from high current areas. The specimens with more elongated bodies, larger mouths, and longer tentacles more likely come from low current areas. Interestingly theses species occur in nature in a myriad of conditions from one extreme to another. Zoas colonies have been observed from reef crest taking blows from the crashing waves to tidal areas being exposed to air for hours during low tide. In fact it’s the durability of the species that make it such a good choice for aquariums. These Zoas tolerate a wide range of conditions and will flourish in nearly any aquaria. |
