Home Sitemap New Pets!

Pet Dogs! Pet Cats Freshwater Fish Saltwater Fish Coral Reef Pet Birds Small Pets Reptiles Pet Supplies

Animal-World
Information

Special Features

Coral Reef Animals Anemones Corallimorphs Leather Corals Gorgonians Soft Corals Stony Coral - LPS Stony Coral - SPS Tridacna Clams Zoanthids
Reef Aquarium Information Reef Aquarium Setup Marine Aquarium Reef Bookstore Marine Bookstore Breeding Marine Fish Fish'n Chips News Aquarium Glossary

Animal-World > Coral Reef > Zoanthids > Sea Mats

Sea Mats

Picture of a Sea Mat, Palythoa sp.
Palythoa sp.

Palythoa produce palytoxin, one of the most potent poisons known to science. For this reason one should take care when handling them. Don't handle if you have cuts or open wounds and make sure to clean your hands after handling.

Sea Mats Animal-Image Your Comments

*Zoanthids Index* Green Button Polyps Sea Mats Yellow Polyps

Description:
Palythoa are easy to distinguish from other zoanthids because the base of the polyps is like an encrusting mat giving the appearance that the coral is a single organism. The encrusting mat is called the coenenchyma.

Lighting - Water flow:
Will do well with low to medium source of water current. A strong light source is required for these corals to do well but they will grow slowly without it.

Difficulty of Care:
This is easy to keep as long as bright light and iodine is present. Highly recommended for beginners as long as filamentous algae is not allowed to grow.

Aggressiveness:
Not an aggressive species but they will grow and cover the substrate upon which they live. As with most zoanthids, mushroom anemones should not be placed nearby.

Add your comment here!

Back to Zoanthids

Your Market Research Here