Identification - Is This a Fungia Plate Coral?

[tmRoth]

I have had this coral for well over 10 years and have forgotten what it is. I think it's a fungia plate coral - I'm not certain, but it meets some of the descriptions. It's dome- or mound-shaped, about the size of a large fist, swells itself up from time to time, and is not attached to the rock it's sitting on. The colors in the photo are fairly accurate - green flesh with tannish/pinkish polyps.

Despite the outbreak of bubble algae around it, it's been very happy sitting in this spot for the last 10 years, although I moved a powerhead several weeks ago and I'm afraid it may be getting too much current when that powerhead kicks in.

 

[MERKEY]

1st pic looks like a plate but then the 2nd pic kind of looks like a favia hahah

I vote plate from the 1st pic.

Beautiful coral!!!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

it looks more like a heliofungia to me

 

[encrustingacro]

colonial fungiid, so not Fungia (or Heliofungia).

 

[Cell]

I'd say lithophyllon.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree on colonial and a very nice one

 

[Reefing102]

colonial fungiid

I’m leaning this way as well. Still a plate coral but just a less common one with multiple mouths. I used to have a blue and purple one but it sadly was in poor health

 

[tmRoth]

I'd say lithophyllon.

We have a winner! Thanks for the response - once I narrowed my search to lithophyllon, I found several dealers selling corals that looked very similar to mine that are listed as lithophyllon. There were various names like Blue-eyed Lithophyllon, in the first photo below, but most just listed as Lithophyllon Coral Frag as in the second photo below.

 

[tmRoth]

I’m leaning this way as well. Still a plate coral but just a less common one with multiple mouths. I used to have a blue and purple one but it sadly was in poor health

Could you or @encrustingacro explain what a "colonial fungiid" is? I couldn't find much information online about this, but from what I found it appears that each fungiid is a solitary coral, but "colonial" means that multiples of them live together. Is that correct?

Also, thanks for confirming the "multiple mouths". Most of the information I've seen indicates that fungiid corals generally have a single mouth, but this one appears to have very many, which made the ID difficult for me.

 

[tmRoth]

Agree on colonial and a very nice one

Thanks. This guy is, like I said, over 10 years old and he is very hardy. My 90-gallon tank has had its ups and downs and I lost most of my corals a number of years ago. Only my zoas, green star polyps, and this one survived, and he thrived through a long period where I had very little time to devote to regular maintenance. I now have the time to devote to getting the tank back in shape, and he seems even happier now that I'm back to regular water changes and keeping all the parameters stable.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks. This guy is, like I said, over 10 years old and he is very hardy. My 90-gallon tank has had its ups and downs and I lost most of my corals a number of years ago. Only my zoas, green star polyps, and this one survived, and he thrived through a long period where I had very little time to devote to regular maintenance. I now have the time to devote to getting the tank back in shape, and he seems even happier now that I'm back to regular water changes and keeping all the parameters stable.

Ive seen these guys go dead and come back after months- They are very forgiving

 

[encrustingacro]

Could you or @encrustingacro explain what a "colonial fungiid" is? I couldn't find much information online about this, but from what I found it appears that each fungiid is a solitary coral, but "colonial" means that multiples of them live together. Is that correct?

Also, thanks for confirming the "multiple mouths". Most of the information I've seen indicates that fungiid corals generally have a single mouth, but this one appears to have very many, which made the ID difficult for me.

Colonial means the coral has multiple polyps. Fungiid refers to the family Fungiidae.

 

[encrustingacro]

I'd say lithophyllon.

Judging by the corallum shape and tentacle length, I would not say this coral is a Lithophyllon. Colonial Lithophyllon form encrusting laminae, while this coral is a dome.

 

[Cell]

Judging by the corallum shape and tentacle length, I would not say this coral is a Lithophyllon. Colonial Lithophyllon form encrusting laminae, while this coral is a dome.

My lithophyllon is dome like. Perhaps it was a mis ID, but not sure. Could also be the round frag plug it's mounted on. CC Stalker Litho. Grows super slow.

The pics of colonial fungii I can find seem to have straight, uniform striations coming from the mouth, while the litho striations are more random looking...at least to my novice eye. I defer to your extensive knowledge though!

 

[Reefing102]

So lithophyllon is technically in the Fungiidae family, so the ID may not be that far off, especially as I dig down into it with the individual striations coming off each mouth.

Per tidal gardens -

The term “plate corals” refers to a collection of several different corals from the family Fungiidae. In the hobby the most commonly seen varieties are Fungia, Heliofungia, Diaseris, Cycloseris, and Lithophyllon. In all there are around 13 different genera that make up the family Fungiidae.

These corals are flat solitary corals. They sometimes with a single mouth while others have multiple mouths. Most of them take on a circular shape however some varieties take on more irregular shapes such as tongue corals that have an elongated form.”

The plate I had was very similar to this one from @uniquecorals

Stepping up to the plate...having fun with Fungia

If you’re like many reefers, you strive to keep a variety of corals in your systems. Maybe it’s the whole “hunter-gatherer” thing that’s encoded in our DNA. Maybe it’s a fascination with spending our money as often as possible on stuff we like. Perhaps it’s even deeper…Perhaps, we just like all...

www.reef2reef.com

Notice how the striations radiate from a central point where yours tend to radiate from each mouth

 

[encrustingacro]

My lithophyllon is dome like. Perhaps it was a mis ID, but not sure. Could also be the round frag plug it's mounted on. CC Stalker Litho. Grows super slow.

The pics of colonial fungii I can find seem to have straight, uniform striations coming from the mouth, while the litho striations are more random looking...at least to my novice eye. I defer to your extensive knowledge though!

Colonial fungiids includes Lithophyllon. Also, is your lithophyllon free-living or is it encrusted onto something? If it is free-living, then it is probably not a Lithophyllon.

So lithophyllon is technically in the Fungiidae family, so the ID may not be that far off, especially as I dig down into it with the individual striations coming off each mouth.

Per tidal gardens -

The term “plate corals” refers to a collection of several different corals from the family Fungiidae. In the hobby the most commonly seen varieties are Fungia, Heliofungia, Diaseris, Cycloseris, and Lithophyllon. In all there are around 13 different genera that make up the family Fungiidae.

These corals are flat solitary corals. They sometimes with a single mouth while others have multiple mouths. Most of them take on a circular shape however some varieties take on more irregular shapes such as tongue corals that have an elongated form.”

The plate I had was very similar to this one from @uniquecorals

Stepping up to the plate...having fun with Fungia

If you’re like many reefers, you strive to keep a variety of corals in your systems. Maybe it’s the whole “hunter-gatherer” thing that’s encoded in our DNA. Maybe it’s a fascination with spending our money as often as possible on stuff we like. Perhaps it’s even deeper…Perhaps, we just like all...

www.reef2reef.com

Notice how the striations radiate from a central point where yours tend to radiate from each mouth

That coral doesn’t look like a Lithophyllon, as it is free-living. Colonial Lithophyllons form encrusting laminae. I would guess that coral is something like Halomitra,

 

[Cell]

Colonial fungiids includes Lithophyllon. Also, is your lithophyllon free-living or is it encrusted onto something? If it is free-living, then it is probably not a Lithophyllon.

Encrusted, but the growth rim kind of flaps out as opposed to a leptastrea, for instance.

Here is what the skeleton looks like:

 

[encrustingacro]

Encrusted, but the growth rim kind of flaps out as opposed to a leptastrea, for instance.

Here is what the skeleton looks like:

That looks more like a colonial Cycloseris (C. mokai, C. explanulata, C. wellsi) than a Lithophyllon.

 

[tmRoth]

Colonial fungiids includes Lithophyllon. Also, is your lithophyllon free-living or is it encrusted onto something? If it is free-living, then it is probably not a Lithophyllon.


That coral doesn’t look like a Lithophyllon, as it is free-living. Colonial Lithophyllons form encrusting laminae. I would guess that coral is something like Halomitra,

@encrustingacro - I'm not sure who your question was directed at, as it seems that my coral is no longer the only one being discussed. However, your question is still relevant to mine.

Mine is free living, not encrusted. Here is a photo of his underside. He wasn't happy being disturbed, though - he retracted his tentacles, slimed me, and puffed up as you can see in the second photo. But I need to move him again anyway to clean off that bubble algae around him.

 

[encrustingacro]

@encrustingacro - I'm not sure who your question was directed at, as it seems that my coral is no longer the only one being discussed. However, your question is still relevant to mine.

Mine is free living, not encrusted. Here is a photo of his underside. He wasn't happy being disturbed, though - he retracted his tentacles, slimed me, and puffed up as you can see in the second photo. But I need to move him again anyway to clean off that bubble algae around him.

If your coral is free-living, than it is probably not a Lithophyllon. I would guess that your coral is a Halomitra