The "People Eater"
- Thread starter gitsoe
- Start date
MikeandNicole
New member
A people eater has a green "mouth" in the middle of them. They are also bigger than a typical zoa (but are not a paly). There are dozens of varities of people eaters out there, the classics being the purple, red, orange, and green. It seems a lot of them come out of Hawaii. Here is a quick link with some of the more exotic ones:
http://www.zoacollector.com/wysiwyg.html
http://www.zoacollector.com/wysiwyg.html
gitsoe
New member
Oh i always thought they were palys...
MikeandNicole
New member
They are called people eater palys but they are not palys. It is a very very common misconception, I forget exactly what the scientific name is.
ficklefins
New member
Zoanthus gigantus - All shots in here are molecularly confirmed as Z. gigantus - enjoy! These are known in the reefkeeping world as "people eaters". Like Z. sansibaricus lots of morphological variation within this group, but white vertical stripes on the outside of the polyp, massive polyps (compared to other Zoanthus spp.), and a fluoro green mouth slit are all nice hints that you're dealing with Z. gigantus.
http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=2459
http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=2459
ficklefins
New member
Have you seen any evidence that zoas can "morph" with other zoas? It would be an interesting read.
ficklefins
New member
Nope, it isn't a cut and dry IDing method. Some zoas (non-PE) will have white watermelon streaks on the stalk but no green mouth and vice versa. But if your zoa has both than you are that much closer to having a PE.
XSharkboyX
Wishin' I Was Fishin'
You are not ever really going to get an adequate answer here... As it seems there are exceptions to every rule, of the "naming fad"...
"People Eaters' are just a silly name someone came up with for marketing purposes of Zoanthus gigantus. You said yourself, you would like to "collect them all..." I will sum it up for you, "True People Eaters" are the ones people are sellling as "True People Eaters" Strictly for marketing purposes, they are all Zoanthus gigantus.
Think of it in terms of Zoanthus gigantus, and you will be all set. There are literally thousands to millions of morphs of Zoanthus gigantus. Some of which have not even been discovered yet I am sure.
Here is a nice little real life senario that i hope drives the point home for you. Last week I picked up a colony of 350 polyps of Zoanthus gigantus at my LFS. I knew they had potential so I said "bag em up." The $30 price tag was enough to make up my mind for me. Upon arriving home and placing the polyps under good lighting, they opened. The polyps are all bright red, with a neon green mouth. My lfs did not call them "people eaters" as this description is no where in an id book, they called them zoanthids.
Last edited:
You mean 35 polyps? I would imagine the rock for 350 would be worth more than $30.
XSharkboyX
Wishin' I Was Fishin'
No, I meant it as it was originally posted. 350 polyps on a single rock. That is almost unheard of anymore with all the chop shops these days.
Last edited:
It's a shame. Thankfully the chop shop mentality doesn't apply over here. I managed to pick up a Magician colony with over 50 polyps on for $35 yesterday; a colony with 50+ blue hornets and the same of purple hornets for $30 last month. That said, you do have some crazy colours in the US, quite jealous of the selection.
