No, I won't resize the pic...these things are huge

These are Giant green centerred saucer polyps (Palythoa ignoto) from Baja California.
The larger polyps are 1" > 1 1/4", with more on the larger side. The one closed is 3/4".
The new growth usually is around 3/4" across, sourrounding the entire colony and these puppies can grow rather quickly if fed.
The green is washed out a bit in this pic, but they glow green even under sunlight in baja. This pic is under 20K/actinic PC.
They prefer brighter light, but can take med to low light.
They'll loose the intense green under low light, but will retain some in med.

 

I have them too, very green, and they do grow very fast. I have to many and hard to control were they spread. I was able to put 1 rock leaning on the glass so then can be isolated from the others.

 

Not many have been around in the last 4 - 5 years due to zero exportation of them, when you get yours? All the ones the trade has seen since then, have been from the S. Pacific and much smaller.

 

Wow..... NICE!

 

I remember someone who was selling these a couple of years back for OUTRAGEOUS prices. They even admitted on their web page that they were avoiding CITES by smuggling it through some other nation (I can't recall which one). I hope they got caught and fined.

 

Their is no CITES in Mexico, plus, CITES doesn't apply to zoanthids/palythoa/mushrooms,etc. The subtrate they are on can be though. The ones we imported, were from a permitted group in Baja (with quotas, biologists, transects,etc), a village co-op that's been collecting for and with my old boss since the mid 70's. All of zoas/palythoa/epis were collected with non Scleractinia origion substrate. We sold a lot of them, and way cheap, on the wholesale/export market For some reason though, they didn't hit the internet market that heavy back then, mainly sold via LFS. They seed the fields they collect in with oyster shells and such from other places which can be harvested in like another 2 months You couldn't make a dent in these fields if you wanted to. Shipped damp, quick and fresh We have a hard time even getting the shipment cleared in time, they land so quickly

Nice green/blue zoanthids down there, and the ever so nice, blood red epizoanthid. Non photosynthetic, loves rotifers/copepods/mysids/cyclopeeze.what ever, they're pigs

 

I want to be clear. I was sure that yours were legal.

This other person's were illegal. They said so on their web page and that they found away around the rules. (Possibly, this was a sales technique or possibly this was simply a law in that country and not a CITES issue).

 

It started from 1 polyp on live rock that I bought 2 year ago.

 

[/IMG]
They measured 1" today.

 

WOW Gresh very impressive!! when do i get my green monsters?