Stony Corals Codexery

Fungiidae

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Fungiidae

Dr. Dwayne Meadows, NOAA/NMFS/OPR · via Wikipedia: Fungiidae · Public domain

The cnidarian family Fungiidae is known by the common names mushroom corals and plate corals.[1] Thirteen currently recognized genera belong to this family, with growth forms varying from single-polyp individuals to multi-polyp colonies.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumCnidaria
  3. SubphylumAnthozoa
  4. ClassHexacorallia
  5. OrderScleractinia
  6. FamilyFungiidae

Named by Dana, 1846

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Fungiidae (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Some genera such as Cycloseris and Fungia are solitary organisms.[1] Polyphyllia consists of a single organism with multiple mouths.[1] Ctenactis and Herpolitha might be considered solitary organisms with multiple mouths or a colony of individuals.[1] This sex change is posited to occur in response to environmental or energetic constraints.[2]

These corals are typically solitary and can move along the seafloor.[3] Feeding usually occurs at night, when a single polyp extends from the skeleton's central area.[3] A bleached or dead appearance is common in these corals.[3] During adulthood, the majority of species are not attached to the substrate.[4]

A few species are both colonial and permanently attached.[4] Sex change has been documented in certain mushroom coral species, including Fungia repanda and Ctenactis echinata.[2]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Fungiidae Dana, 1846 as an accepted family in order Scleractinia, class Hexacorallia, environment marine.[5] GBIF records 38,341 occurrence records for the family as of 7 October 2026.[6] The Tolweb account notes colony formation commonly by intratentacular budding.[7] Veron describes a gradation from solitary individuals to colonies in mushroom corals.[8]

Cycloseris and Fungia exist only as solitary individuals with a single mouth.[8] A single specimen of Ctenactis or Herpolitha could be considered a solitary individual with many mouths or a colony.[8] Bob Fenner’s aquarium guide mentions a Fungiid field in Malaysia.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Fungiidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Veron, J.E., "Colony formation", Corals of the World, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Fungiidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yossi Loya and Kazuhiko Sakai, "Bidirectional sex change in mushroom stony corals", Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 22 October 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Fungiidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Halstead, Bob. 2000. Coral Sea Reef Guide. Sea Challengers, Danville, CA, USA.; "The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium: Plate Corals, Family Fungiidae, Pt. 1", Wetwebmedia.com; "Stony Corals From The Family Fungiidae, A.J. Nilsen, October 1997, Aquarium.Net", Reefs.org (Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet) (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Fungiidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "BioLib - Heliofungia actiniformis (Long tentacle plate coral)", Biolib.cz; "Fungioidea", Tolweb.org, 2002-10-28 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. World Register of Marine Species, Fungiidae (AphiaID 196100). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  6. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Fungiidae (taxon key 3970). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  7. "Fungioidea", Tolweb.org, 2002-10-28. facts only, no text reused. tolweb.org
  8. Veron, J.E., "Colony formation", Corals of the World, 2013. facts only, no text reused. coralsoftheworld.org
  9. "The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium: Plate Corals, Family Fungiidae, Pt. 1", Wetwebmedia.com. facts only, no text reused. wetwebmedia.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Fungiidae (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Cnidaria

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LobophylliidaeMerulinidaeMontastraeaMussidaePectiniidaePocilloporidaeStephanocoenia interseptaAnacroporaAstroidesBalanophylliaColpophylliaCtenella

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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