Sponge Zoanthid

Sponge Zoanthid

Sponge Zoanthid on Red Boring Sponge

Name: Sponge Zoanthid
Scientific Name: Parazoanthus parasiticus
Family: Zoanthids
Taxonomic: Parazoanthidae
ID Group: Anemones, Hydroids, Jellyfish
Size: up to 0.25 in.
Depth Range: On the reef (10 – 60 ft.)
Sightings: Seen many times

This Zoanthid has small polyps with a white column and two rows of short brown or yellow-brown tentacles. They have a darker central disc and often grow in large groups, covering the surface of sponges.

The Sponge Zoanthid only lives on certain sponges, mostly on the Branching Vase Sponge and the Red Boring Sponge. Typically, a single larva settles and then spreads across its sponge host by budding, forming large, genetically identical colonies on one sponge.