AOI
Zoanthus, a zoanthid. Beginner to keep, typical PAR 75–150, moderate flow.
Also sold as WWC AOI.
An established line. The same coral under this name at any shop.
Collector tier: common, where the trade ranks it from common through grail.
A small to medium polyp zoa that is blue almost all over, with a yellow centre around the mouth. World Wide Corals, which has grown it for years, calls the blue bright and the centre canary yellow, and Tidal Gardens describes a bright blue outer rim around an intense yellow centre. In shop photographs the centre runs yellow to yellow-green and the tentacles darken from blue towards purple at the tips, but nearly all of those photographs were taken under blue-heavy light.
Before you buy one
Yellow in the middle and blue from there to the edge is the whole pattern, and it is all the sellers say in words: four independent shops describe it and none of them mentions the skirt, so this entry rests on a short record. Blue light makes many zoas look blue, and nearly every photograph of this one was taken under it, so ask for a shot under white light before buying. Shops that buy in from World Wide Corals sell it as WWC AOI and others as plain AOI, and their photographs show the same pattern. World Wide Corals says it does best with some nutrients in the water.
Keeping zoanthids
Low to middle rock, enough flow to keep detritus off the mat. AOI is beginner to keep at a typical PAR of 75–150 in moderate flow. A typical starting range for this type of coral, not measured on this one.
What AOI goes for
No verified sales yet. A range publishes once 3 dated, checkable records from 3 different sources exist, priced per polyp and reported as a median, with what shops ask kept separate from what buyers paid. One polyp, so a ten-polyp frag is divided by ten. Listings that do not state the count are dropped rather than assumed. Nothing on this page is for sale.