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Related FAQs: Fungiids, Fungiid Corals 2Fungiid Identification, Fungiid Behavior, Fungiid Compatibility, Fungiid Selection, Fungiid Systems, Fungiid Feeding, Fungiid Disease, Fungiid Reproduction, Stony/True Coral, Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral PlacementFoods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef CoralsStony Coral Behavior,

Related Articles: Large Polyp Stony CoralsStony or True Corals, Order Scleractinia, Dyed Corals

/The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium:

Plate Corals, Family Fungiidae, Pt. 2

To: Part 1, Pt. 3

Beautiful, but touchy

By Bob Fenner

Heliofungia actiniformis  

Genus Halomitra Dana 1846. Dome shaped bodies, with tentacular lobes. Thinner walled than genus Sandalolitha, but similar with outward facing corallites. 

Halomitra pileus (Linnaeus 1758). Dome shaped free-living colonies, no axial furrow, corallites get larger toward the edge, and their centers are typically white. Maldives images at right, N. Sulawesi below. Grows to about "helmet size".

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Genus Heliofungia Wells 1966. One species. Flat, free-living, with large lobed teeth. Unusual for its tentacles looking like a giant anemones, or Euphyllia, being out most all the time day and night (in the wild most Fungiids are closed up during light hours).

Heliofungia actiniformis (Quoy & Gaimard 1833). Vying for single largest polyp amongst corals. Colors of tentacles from off-white to brown, blue, gray... with pink or white tips. Maldives specimen at right and an image of a symbiotic Periclimenes holthuisi. First row below aquarium images. N. Sulawesi pix second row. The last very stressed.

Beware of artificially dyed specimens... Fungiids are not exempt from this nefarious practice. Read here: The Tragedy of Artificially Colored Live Corals by Anthony Calfo & FAQs on: Artificially Dyed Live Corals

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Heliofungia fralinae Gittenberger, Reijnen and Hoeksema (2011) /COTW:

Characters: Polyps are circular. Septa are in two distinct orders, those of the first order being very exsert, straight and thin. All septa have fine teeth. Tentacles, which are sometimes bifurcated, are commonly extended during the day.

Colour: Usually olive-green with tiny but conspicuous violet tentacle tips.

Similar Species: The exsert alternating septa with fine teeth are distinctive.

Habitat: Reef slopes and lagoons.

Abundance: Uncommon.

Taxonomic Note: Called Heliofungia fralinae by Gittenberger, Reijnen and Hoeksema (2011) from molecular data, but this species has little in common with Heliofungia actiniformis. Heliofungia is distinctively monospecific.

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 To: Part 1, Pt. 3

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