THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

Appearance: Various growth forms include
chalices, encrusting sheets, thick leaves and
flat plates. Can grow to about 2 m diameter.
Diet: Most nutrients supplied by symbiotic
zooxanthellae.
R e p r o d u c t i o n a n d D e v e l o p m e n t :
Hermaphroditic brooders. Shed planula larvae
year round.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span: over 50 years.
Remarks: Their common name comes from the
fact they resemble underwater lettuce plants.
A primary reef-building coral of the Caribbean..
Leptoseris Coral
Leptoseris sp. (Agariciidae)
Distribution: Mostly known from the tropical
Pacific, though one species in found in the
Atlantic.
Habitat: Ledges and overhands in deeper
water; prefer reduced light and current areas.
Appearance: Genus consists of delicate,
leaflike species. Mostly foliate and laminar,
sometimes encrusting. Colors range from
green, brown, to cream, often with contrasting
striations and margins.
Diet: Leptoseris spp. are among deepest-water
symbiotic corals known.
Remarks: The genus is fairly uncommon in
the aquarium trade, though successful captive
breeding is making them more available.
Mushroom Coral
Fungia spp. (Fungiidae)
Distribution: Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea
and east Africa, west to Hawaii in tropical and
subtropical latitudes.
Habitat: Among other coral, rubble, or on sand.
Appearance: Genus noted for short, tapering
tentacles and a very large mouth opening. The
structure is home to a single polyp. Many septa
stretch from the central mouth to sides of the
polyp. Form may be nearly circular or elongate.
Diameter to 28 cm.
Diet: Nutrition from photosynthetic algae.
Fungia corals have been observed eating
jellyfish, which may be a primary food source
for some and a good “fit” for their large
mouths.
Reproduction and Development: Sexual or
asexual reproduction. In either mode, a vase-
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shaped polyp gradually grows into a flattened
disc, attached to the substrate by a stalk, which
later dissolves. A scar on the underside of
the adult skeleton marks the position of the
stalk.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span of some longlived
species (by one estimate): 24–46 years.
Conservations Status: All corals are threatened,
Fungia perhaps more than some as it is valued
in both the live and dead coral trade, where it
is used for jewelry and other ornaments.
Remarks: Rather than forming colonies like
most corals, Fungia corals are usually solitary
and free-living. Because they are unattached,
Fungia can be easily moved by waves, and so
are most often found in protected places, often
at depths where wave action is reduced.
Their typical inverted cap-gilled mushroomlike
appearance gives these corals their
common name.
Are able to produce a mucus that damages
tissues of other corals and so prevents
overgrowth. Mucus also facilitates food
capture.
By inflating the body cavity, mushroom corals
are able to upright themselves after being
overturned.
Cycloseris, also a genus often on display, is
closely related to Fungia. However, Cycloseris
tends to be more perfectly round and often
domed toward the center. The skeletons have
differnt features (all diffiuclt to determine
by casual observation), and Cycloseris spp.,
because they are not attached to the substrate
as juveniles, lack the stalk scar typical of Fungia.
Slipper Coral
Polyphyllia sp. (Fungiidae)
Distribution: Indo-West Pacific.
Habitat: Shallow water in protected areas.
Common on soft, muddy bottoms; also on
sand and rubble.
Appearance: Elongated, slipper-shaped
solitary coral with many mouths. Color:
usually brown, but occasionally green or
cream. Tentacles brown with white tips, about
2 cm long and occasionally forked at the ends;
extended during the day.
Diet: All species in the Fungiidae bear
endosymbiotic algae and also extend feeding
tentacles to capture zooplankton.