Mushroom Coral

Looks how to spot one

Soft-bodied disc polyp (no skeleton)

A flat, round disc on a very short stalk, with tiny tentacles arranged in rows across the face. It looks like a small mushroom cap stuck to rock and produces a lot of mucus.31

Personality what they are like

A quiet, sessile polyp that stays where it settles. It is rated semi-aggressive in reef tanks because a spreading group can crowd out neighbours.21

Daily activity how busy a day looks

Stays put on rock and slowly spreads as new discs form.2

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Easy to keep. Top up iodine, trace elements, strontium and calcium as part of normal reef care, and give it room to spread.2

Home where they are happiest

A reef aquarium with moderate light and low to medium flow, placed low to mid level on the rockwork. Stable reef-aquarium water: about 22-26 C (72-78 F), pH 8.1-8.4, alkalinity 8-12 dKH, specific gravity 1.023-1.025.2

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Partly fed by algae living in its tissue and partly by catching fine particles from the water. Small amounts of micro-plankton or brine shrimp can be offered to each disc.32

Company who they like around

Usually sold as several discs on one rock; it lives happily in groups of its own kind but should be kept a little away from slower-growing corals.21

The story where it all began

Rüppell and Leuckart named Discosoma in 1828, and de Blainville's Actinodiscus from 1830 is now treated as the same genus. Mushroom corals belong to the corallimorpharians, a group closely related to reef-building stony corals, and several species have long been staples of the aquarium trade.31

Recognised by the official bits

Taxonomy (via Wikipedia)

Genus Discosoma Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828 (order Corallimorpharia); Actinodiscus de Blainville, 1830 is a synonym. About 11 species.3