Colorful Zoas do not have (or have very little) palytoxins

[zoaprince]

I've seen this posted constantly but no one ever posts any proof. Sorry but I am not a 60 year old who believes everything they read on the internet is true.

Can someone post some credible studies which showed that color zoanthids have no palytoxin?

I am not saying I AGREE or DISAGREE with this statement. I simply want to see a credible source. Thanks!

 

[Oscar47f]

Palytoxin Found in Palythoa sp. Zoanthids (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) Sold in the Home Aquarium Trade

Zoanthids (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) are colonial anemones that contain one of the deadliest toxins ever discovered, palytoxin (LD[50] in mice 300 ng/kg), but it is generally believed that highly toxic species are not sold in the home aquarium trade. We ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This one is not specifically saying that colored ones are more or less toxic but it does imply there are different levels of toxins within different species

 

[Reefing_addiction]

It’s all an assumption.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

This is a good read though

Palytoxin - MASNA

Palytoxin The Power of Palytoxin By Amy McKenna M.S., Dr. Kevin Erickson Ph.D. Published August 21, 2016 STOP, if you suspect you are suffering from palytoxin exposure, seek immediate medical attention. PDF Available Here Discovery A Hawaiian legend tells the tale of how villagers on Maui, in...

masna.org

 

[MrLafogata]

I haven’t died yet, and I’m a nail biter who loves zoas

 

[ThatPhillyReefer]

Usually the theory is, the more expensive the zoa the less palytoxin

 

[zoaprince]

Usually the theory is, the more expensive the zoa the less palytoxin

sure that is a theory that anyone could make up. Where's the proof?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Zoanthids (which is apparently refers to all corals of the Zoanthraria order) include the genus Palythoa, which is toxic as mentioned above, but no other Zoanthid genus has been shown to contain palytoxin.

Here's an excellent 2-part series by an esteemed zoologist discussing Zoa toxicity:

The Dangers (and Myths) of Zoa Toxicity – Part 1

The oceans are full of creatures capable of killing us; one of the more surprising marine menaces is a group of popular aquarium corals known variably as “but

reefs.com

The Dangers (and Myths) of Zoa Toxicity – Part 2

(Continued from Part 1) When it comes to toxic palys, it is the drab brown specimens that we see most often, but there may be at least some colorful phenotyp

reefs.com

Palytoxin has only been found in Palytho spp. (spp is the abbreviation for plural species), some dinoflaggelates (Ostreopsis spp.) and some cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium spp.)

If you have more literature or examples, then please share and correct me.

 

[Oscar47f]

It’s all an assumption.

Not really an assumption they did prove in the previous article that one did not have the same concentration as another but they didn’t go through all the zoanthid species and they didn’t focus on color if that makes sense ? Lol I agree that a lot is still up in the air though

 

[Oscar47f]

Thank you ! I was looking for those specific articles haha

 

[zoaprince]

Not really an assumption they did prove in the previous article that one did not have the same concentration as another but they didn’t go through all the zoanthid species and they didn’t focus on color if that makes sense ? Lol I agree that a lot is still up in the air though

it is still an assumption because they only tested a few zoanthids/palys and no mention of color. Although the zoanthids tested showed no or "weak" palytoxin, they also tested Palys that had no or weak palytoxin. Actually only one of the Palys/Zoas they tested had palytoxin "Palythoa heliodiscus" The articles posted by @xxkenny90xx seem to actually be based on the study you posted. It even has the same images.

It seems there isn't sufficient data to say anything concrete, but if we take that single study as our bible, then only Palythoa heliodiscus contains harmful amounts of palytoxin. All other zoas/palys are OK.

 

[littlebigreef]

I don’t believe pigmentation has any role in the amount of paly toxin present in any one strain. I have plenty of antidotal evidence that ‘size’ (relative to a healthy polyp in ‘normal’ par) and ‘species’ (generally agreed up group or class) are the best indicators. Strains like utter chaos, blue lagoons, sunny do’s, all the CAR morphs, have a greater capacity to squirt and spread juices simply because there’s more tissue than tightly growing polyps like bam bams or king Midas. That said, aside from juice in the eye or working with an open cut (I didn’t realize at the time) these don’t pose much of a threat.

When you start discussing true palys like captain America’s, beauty and the beast, capt Jerks you run a greater risk of seriously being injured. First, the tissue is noticeably different, thicker and more rigid- almost sponge like. Secondly these weep copious amounts of viscous ‘zoa juice’ when fragged. With these more sensitive people should probably wear masks because there is that possibility you could breath it in. We can also loop Texas Trash and generic ‘button polyps’ into that group. Those are the ones people need to be more conscientious about working with.

So, all things being equal I’m bored as hell with people freaking out about paly toxin. In most serious cases people (including a good buddy and shop owner) aspirated particulate that had been ground up (in his case unknowingly) or boiled off. To a lesser extant eye injuries and open cuts pose a much lower risk. Yes, some people are more sensitive to this stuff generally. But, as a guy that has cut 10’s of thousands of zoa and paly frags over the years most pose little risk. If I had to opine I’d say three factors always lead to this topic coming back up 1) the continued rise of people fragging and selling, 2) general expansion of the hobby 3) long term hobbyists deciding to remove grown-in patches of palys from their aquarium.