Does anybody know what this is? I think it is some sort of sponge.

BringingThatDottyback

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Came on some live rock from KP aquatics. It's spreading rapidly and seems to have developed some small mouths. The zoa doesnt seem to mind it growing between the heads and honestly I like how it looks. Just cool how fast it is spreading.

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You may be right about it being a sponge. If it is outgrowing zoos, that’s quite fast growth.

I don’t see the mouths on sponges. Typically, what you refer to as a mouth is the vent. I have three species of ornamental Caribbean sponges: red tree, yellow ball and orange elephant ear.
 

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Subsea

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ISpeakForTheSeas

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Came on some live rock from KP aquatics. It's spreading rapidly and seems to have developed some small mouths. The zoa doesnt seem to mind it growing between the heads and honestly I like how it looks. Just cool how fast it is spreading.

View attachment 2939068
It does seem like it may be a sponge - if it isn’t bothering or smothering the corals, then it’s probably harmless.

The “mouths” are most visible in the shaded areas under the zoas in the pic (typically the big “mouths” on sponges are osculum - exhalant pores - and the little “mouths” are ostium - inhalant pores; water comes in through the ostium, gets filtered, then gets sent back out the osculum).
 

Polyp polynomial: How many heads do you start with when buying zoas?

  • One head is enough to get started.

    Votes: 27 10.6%
  • 2 to 4 heads.

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  • 5 heads or more.

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  • Full colony.

    Votes: 10 3.9%
  • Other.

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