Palythoa caesia

Dana, 1846

Rubber Coral, Sea Mat Coral

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and Australia.

Natural Environment: Inhabits shallow coastal reef flats, reef slopes or reef top areas and usually found at depths between 10 to 30 feet (3 - 10 m) where they form encrusting mats of densely packed polyps.

General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade since it's not an attractive species.

Provide enough distance between this species and stony corals, with supplemental feedings of baby brine shrimp that will help polyps multiply.

Aquarium Suitability: Not overly attractive, and better left in the wild

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Cnidaria

Class: Anthozoa

Subclass: Hexacorallia

Order: Zoantharia

Suborder: Brachycnemina

Family: Zoanthidae

Genus: Palythoa

FYI: As with all Palythoa/Protopalythoa species, they produce a toxin called palytoxin (Mebs, 1989) that is found in its mucus coating. It is used to protect itself from predators and also clear the path of other corals so as to make space for expanding its colony. Keep in mind that if this toxic mucus enters your eye, mouth, or an open wound, it can cause various disorders including numbness, hallucinations, or even death. Therefore, always wash your hands after handling these creatures, and never handle them if you have open wounds on your hands! Wearing gloves is a good idea when handling these animals!

For far more general information about these corals, see my article titled 'Zoanthids - A Wide Range to Choose From' in the 'Article" section of this website.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Diet: Photosynthetic/Zooplankton feeder

Temperament: Semi-aggressive

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Coral Safe:Yes

Fish Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: Yes

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Hardiness: Moderate

Calcium (Ca): 380 - 430 mg/l

Alkalinity: 2.5 - 3.0 meq/l

Phosphate (PO4): <0.05 mg/l

Magnesium (Mg): approx. 1350 mg/l (relate to specific gravity)

Strontium (Sr) 8 - 10 mg/l

Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 - 27°C)

Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons

Lighting: PAR 450+

Water Movement: WM 2

Specific Gravity: 1.023 - 1.025

pH: 8.0 - 8.4

Iodine/Trace Elements Monitor/as necessary to maintain quality seawater.