Zoanthus, a zoanthid. Beginner to keep, Typical PAR 75–150, moderate flow.
Rarity tier: rare, reviewed 2026-08.
A pale blue face ringed in green inside a dark blue outer disc, and a skirt that ALTERNATES in two stacked layers, dark blue below and neon green above. The alternation is what the name is about, and it is the part a photograph from directly overhead flattens away. Genuine blue is rare in zoanthids, which is most of the price.
Photographed under heavy blues, dozens of zoas look blue. The test shot is white light: real Blue Hornets stay blue, imitators go grey-green. Ask for one from the side as well, because the stacked skirt is only visible at an angle, and a Purple Hornet, which is the usual near-miss, wears a solid skirt rather than an alternating one.
Low to middle rock, enough flow to keep detritus off the mat. Blue Hornet is beginner to keep at a typical PAR of 75–150 in moderate flow. A typical starting range for this type of coral rather than a measured requirement for this morph. Spectrum, how it was acclimated and the system it grew in all move it.
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. Shops are typically asking $10 to $21 per polyp, median $15, across 10 shops surveyed on 2026-09-07; the full sweep ran $4 to $31. Asking prices are what sellers want, not what buyers paid. On 2026-09-07 it was in stock at 10 surveyed shops: bcpcorals.com, coralsanonymous.com, cornbredcorals.com, creamcitycorals.com, deepreef.net, jasonfoxsignaturecorals.com, and 4 more.