What is this black substance in the "mouth" of my Zoa?

[InvertGang]

Hello,

I looked at my zoas today shortly after the light went on. There was a strange black rippling substance peeking out of the "mouth" at the center of the head. I took some photos but it's a bit hard to see. The black substance has now disappeared and is no longer there on the zoa.

Any ideas what this is? And what I should do about it?

 

[RedFrog211]

Open mouth/ defecation. It’s how the Zoa expels waste after digesting

 

[InvertGang]

Open mouth/ defecation. It’s how the Zoa expels waste after digesting

Wow, all the research I did never talked about that. That's so cool. It's hard to fully internalised that these fleshy lumps are actual animals that digest and excrete and such.

 

[sfin52]

Its pooping.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

My ricordea did the same thing. I cracked up when I figured it out.

 

[Cell]

Remember, its mouth is also its butt!

 

[littlebigreef]

Open mouth/ defecation. It’s how the Zoa expels waste after digesting

I'd be inclined to agree, there was a zoa pooping question just the other day. In this case though I'd say this looks more like the guts. Doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. Usually poop is one long thin string-like thing. Your description 'black rippling substance' is more inline with guts that looks like a mass of brown and cream colored ramen.

 

[tnw50cal]

Remember, its mouth is also its butt!

Which in some cases explains a lot of people.

 

[RedFrog211]

I'd be inclined to agree, there was a zoa pooping question just the other day. In this case though I'd say this looks more like the guts. Doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. Usually poop is one long thin string-like thing. Your description 'black rippling substance' is more inline with guts that looks like a mass of brown and cream colored ramen.

Based on the picture, I’d say it was defecating and the mouth remained open after the waste had been expelled, when the photo had been taken. Hard to tell without seeing the waste though

 

[InvertGang]

Based on the picture, I’d say it was defecating and the mouth remained open after the waste had been expelled, when the photo had been taken. Hard to tell without seeing the waste though

From what I could tell, I didn't see anything ejected out of the mouth. I saw a couple more with the same look today too.

 

[RedFrog211]

From what I could tell, I didn't see anything ejected out of the mouth. I saw a couple more with the same look today too.

As long as the corals are open and seem happy, I wouldn’t be too worried!

 

[littlebigreef]

Based on the picture, I’d say it was defecating and the mouth remained open after the waste had been expelled, when the photo had been taken. Hard to tell without seeing the waste though

Agreed, def not trying to be a contrarian lol. His description was what caught my attention. At the end of the day if it's open and looking happy that's all we want.