Everybody corrects me whenever I say "Zoa" and insists I say "Zoo". I felt like I should post to clear things up in hopes people would stop correcting me.
(As paraphrased from The Super Simple Guide to Corals, by James W. Fatherree)
Zoanthus spp. (Zoanthids):
Zoas are colonies of polyps growing as encrusting mats from which tightly spaced polyps emerge. They come in every shade of the rainbow and are found mostly encrusted over a wide variety of surfaces; but, also may be seen partially buried in the sand. They are heavily dependent on lighting and need high intensity illumination in order to thrive.
Zooxanthellae:
With the aid of plentiful sunlight seen in clear, shallow reef environments, algae (properly called Zooxanthellae) carry out photosynthesis within the host tissues. They produce excess quantities of nutritious simple sugars like glucose. These leftovers can then be donated to their host through a process called "Translocation". The Zooxanthellae may produce so much excess sugar under optimal conditions that they can give over 90% of what they generate to the host and still have plenty for themselves. A host coral, in turn, may end up aquiring a small percentage of its total nutrition through other means, such as prey capture. As a result, the host corals rely much less on real food than other corals that don't have Zooxanthellae.
There are many types of corals that use Zooxanthellae, including: Xenias, Acropora, and many other corals that demand high intensity lighting.
Often times the Zooxanthellae provide so much nutrition to its host coral that if it dies, the coral will die too.
In short:
"Zoa" = The coral
"Zoo" = The algae living in the coral
-Donovan
(As paraphrased from The Super Simple Guide to Corals, by James W. Fatherree)
Zoanthus spp. (Zoanthids):
Zoas are colonies of polyps growing as encrusting mats from which tightly spaced polyps emerge. They come in every shade of the rainbow and are found mostly encrusted over a wide variety of surfaces; but, also may be seen partially buried in the sand. They are heavily dependent on lighting and need high intensity illumination in order to thrive.
Zooxanthellae:
With the aid of plentiful sunlight seen in clear, shallow reef environments, algae (properly called Zooxanthellae) carry out photosynthesis within the host tissues. They produce excess quantities of nutritious simple sugars like glucose. These leftovers can then be donated to their host through a process called "Translocation". The Zooxanthellae may produce so much excess sugar under optimal conditions that they can give over 90% of what they generate to the host and still have plenty for themselves. A host coral, in turn, may end up aquiring a small percentage of its total nutrition through other means, such as prey capture. As a result, the host corals rely much less on real food than other corals that don't have Zooxanthellae.
There are many types of corals that use Zooxanthellae, including: Xenias, Acropora, and many other corals that demand high intensity lighting.
Often times the Zooxanthellae provide so much nutrition to its host coral that if it dies, the coral will die too.
In short:
"Zoa" = The coral
"Zoo" = The algae living in the coral
-Donovan
