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Mushrooms
Scientific Names
Disosoma sp., Actinodisus sp., Corallimorphs, Ricordea sp., Rhodactis sp.
Lighting
Low to High, very adaptable but does not like direct metal halide lighting.
Current
Low, does well in higher currents but does not expand to it's full potential.
Aggressiveness
Moderate, has been known to sting and drive back surrounding colonies of less aggressive corals.
Hardiness
Excellent. Very good for beginners, a excellent choice as a first coral.
Region
Mushrooms are found on every reef all over the world.
Discosoma and Actinodiscus are the genera that comprise the mushroom anemones, morphology lies somewhere between that of corals and anemones. Species determination is an almost impossible task as similar species from different oceans may be of a totally different genus.
Mushrooms can appear in hundreds of color variations, ranging in size from under an inch in diameter to over a foot in diameter. The latter being Amplexidiscus sp. And many textures, smooth, hairy, knobby, speckled, mottled, frilly, and fuzzy. Textures can change in appearance from day to day to some extent becoming more of less pronounced.
The Giant mushroom variations, Rhodactis sp. and Amplexidiscus sp. will trap food by using a bubble/mucus net on thier surface. These are also know to be surrogate hosts for many clownfish species.
Ricordea is only found in Florida and Caribbean waters. It is a small to medium sized mushroom characterized by unique contrasting round raised dots across thier surface. Color variations include orange, blue, green, brown, and purple. They may lose their bright fluorescent color under intense lighting. Ricordea is now illegal to collect in Florida waters and most of the specimens now available are either aquacultured or imported from Haiti.
All Mushrooms extend dramatically when placed in low current areas of the tank. Iodine/Iodide is essential for proper coloration and expansion. Reproduction is either by budding (forming a new polyp from the base of the old), splitting (forming a second, and sometimes third, mouth and literally splitting in half), or by bailing out (detaching from the rock they are on and moving to another area to begin a new colony. A new mushroom will grow from the small area left on the rock by the old mushroom when it moved). Mushrooms can be easily propagated. One method is to remove the mushroom rock, hold it upside down so the mushrooms dangle down, cut the mushroom as close to the rock as possible. This can then either be glued to a new rock, using Super Glu Gel (sometimes due the protective slime coat the mushroom exudes this doesn't work), or the cut mushroom can be held in place by some bridal veil until they are firmly attached. This usually takes a couple weeks. Many generally do not bother with propagating mushrooms as they multiply so fast on thier own.
Mushrooms are also a great addition to any nano reef. They do well in groups so there is no need to worry about spacing them apart, or fighting for space. They are also very hardy, making them a good candidate for lower light and smaller nano reef aquariums.
Christopher Marks
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