speckled paly morphs

[stoneroller]

I put together this documentary of what I consider to be "morphing".


I have had these speckled palys (Zoanthus gigantus)for about a year, on the sand bed for several months.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/normalspeckledPE.jpg

For some time (maybe weeks), two frags of some other zoas (green skirts on the left and dark little ones in the front) intruded into my speckled paly space. The sand rolls into this area too. In October, I noticed an odd, colorful polyp. Curiosity sets in....
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/OCT_07_morph1.jpg

I removed the "intruders" and found several of these morphed polyps, smaller yet even more intense (pinkish medium-sized one and the partially closed/buried ones on the left of the colony). Sorry about the actinics but it does highlight the color difference.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/NOV_07_morph2.jpg

I pulled the colony and excised the cute little buggers.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/excisedmorphs.jpg

Presently, they are doing fine but haven't produced new polyps.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/FEB08SpeckledPEmorph2.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r10/stoneroller/PEmorph/FEB08speckledPEmorph.jpg

Any one else's speckled palys morph? Would like to see pics and if they produced new polyps?

[erikharrison]

Those are sweet. When you frag them, well IF you frag them, I'll trade you for one of those mushrooms that I have. I know I'm in for a wait, but so are you, lol.

Tab is post-editing some pics of Aquarium Design on her Mac, thanks again for the help. :)

[MissT]

very nice... thanks for sharing!

[stoneroller]

Thanks all. Nothing like patience in this sport.

[apedroza]

I saw these in person and they look waaay cooler than the originals they came from!!! Erik you'll have to wait in line behind me for a frag!!! :bigsmile: Kevin's got a nice selection of zoas to choose from. Hey Kevin those xmas zoas look almost ready to frag again, I'll let you know!!!

[stoneroller]

Thanks, Anthony, LMK. They are waaaay smaller, too. Any thoughts on whether any (if any) new polyps will revert to the larger, more uniform speckled palys we all know and love?

[apedroza]

I have noticed that when my PPE's showed signs of the speckling the new babies that came out looked normal. Could there be a chance that these are a different paly that was a hitchhiker on your original colony??

[stoneroller]

NO they were part of the mat of the speckled paly colony.

[apedroza]

HMMMMM!!! Could be a cool new morph. Hopefully any new ones will stay that color. I know Brians PPE's morphed into a crazy speckled color,but not sure if any new ones came out the same way

[MissT]

he for sure has a cool collection of zoas and palys. I picked up a frag of emeralds at the last frag swap, and they've been going crazy.