Scientific name Fungia | Rank Genus | |
Lower classifications Fungia scutaria, Fungia scruposa | ||
Fungia coral
Fungia is a genus of mushroom, disc or plate corals in the family Fungiidae. Members of the genus are found growing on reefs in the Indo-Pacific.
Contents
Fungia plate coral care
Description
Corals in the genus Fungia are mostly solitary, some attaining 30 centimetres (12 in) in diameter. However Fungia simplex is colonial. The juveniles attach themselves to rock but larger individuals detach themselves and become free living. They are found in various bright colours including white, pink, red, purple, blue and yellow and are popular with keepers of reef aquariums. The discs are either round or oval and the central mouth, which is surrounded by tentacles, may be a slit. The polyp sits in a calcareous cup, the corallite. The septa are vertical skeletal elements inside the corallite wall and the costae join the septae and continue outside the corallite wall and underneath the coral. In the genus Fungia, both the septae and costae are robust and the spines and teeth found on them are characteristic of the different species. Members of the genus Fungia may be confused with specimens of the related genus Cycloseris but the latter are always free living, even as juveniles, while the former bear a scar showing where they were attached when young.
Species
The World Register of Marine Species currently lists the following species:
