Zoanthid and candy cane interaction

IslandCrow

Reef Monkey
Premium Member
I have what I believe is a zoanthid that came as a hitchiker on some live rock and it's really started to grow recently. It's growing right underneath a candy cane (Caulastrea) frag I have, and I'm wondering if it's going to be an issue. I know nothing about zoanthids. The two just barely touch at the moment when the candy cane is fully extended. Do I have to worry about the candy cane getting stung or getting into any sort of biological warfare with the zoa?

Anyway, here's a picture of the two. Maybe someone could also give me better ID on the polyp in the photo as well.

Candy-cane-and-Zoa---14-May.jpg
 
I think that's an ordinary green button---wait for the zooanthid people on this one, but from the expansion on both, they're either trying to kill each other or they're both happy. That's a nice pair of specimens---if they were on different rocks. Probably easier to move the button.
 
Looks like a green button polyp to me, I think sweepers from the caulastrea will win in that battle, if there is any battle.
 
Fortunately for the polyp, the candy cane sweepers like to go straight up, so I think he's safe. The main reason I asked is that at one point, the bottom of the candy cane used to touch the rock, but it doesn't seem to go quite that far down anymore. Of course, it looks just as full as ever, so if no one sees any immenent problems, I guess I'll just keep the two together for now, and relocate the polyp only if it looks like it doesn't want to be a good neighbor.
 
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