Fungiidae

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Family of corals

title: "Fungiidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["fungiidae", "scleractinia", "cnidarian-families", "taxa-named-by-james-dwight-dana"] description: "Family of corals" topic_path: "general/fungiidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungiidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of corals ::

| image = Fungia scutaria 1.jpg | image_caption = Fungia scutaria | taxon = Fungiidae | authority = Dana, 1846 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text

The Fungiidae () are a family of Cnidaria, commonly known as mushroom corals or plate corals. The family contains thirteen extant genera. They range from solitary corals to colonial species. Some genera such as Cycloseris and Fungia are solitary organisms, Polyphyllia consists of a single organism with multiple mouths, and Ctenactis and Herpolitha might be considered as solitary organisms with multiple mouths or a colony of individuals, each with its separate mouth.

Characteristics

Species are generally solitary marine animals capable of benthic locomotion.{{cite web |url = http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fungiidae.htm |title = The Best Livestock For Your Reef Aquarium: Plate Corals, Family Fungiidae, Pt. 1 |publisher = Wetwebmedia.com |access-date = 2009-02-22}} These corals often appear to be bleached or dead.{{cite web |url = http://www.reefs.org/library/aquarium_net/1097/1097_4.html |title = Stony Corals From The Family Fungiidae, A.J. Nilsen, October 1997, Aquarium.Net |publisher = Reefs.org (Where Reefkeeping Begins on the Internet) |access-date = 2009-02-22}} In most genera, a single polyp emerges from the center of the skeleton to feed at night. Most species remain fully detached from the substrate in adulthood. Some are immobile as well as colonial.{{cite web |url = https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id322018 |title = BioLib - Heliofungia actiniformis (Long tentacle plate coral) |publisher = Biolib.cz |access-date = 2009-02-22}}{{cite web |url = http://tolweb.org/Fungioidea/19109 |title = Fungioidea |publisher = Tolweb.org |date = 2002-10-28 |access-date = 2009-02-22}}

Ecology

Some species of mushroom coral such as Fungia repanda and Ctenactis echinata are able to change sex. This is posited to take place in response to environmental or energetic constraints, and to improve the organism's evolutionary fitness; similar phenomena are observed in some dioecious plants.

Genera

The World Register of Marine Species includes these genera in the family:

Notable species

Importance to humans

Members of the family Fungiidae are not of any commercial importance, but are collected for the aquarium trade and are sold as "plate corals".

References

Gallery

File:Coral (Heliofungia actiniformis) (20 cm).png|Heliofungia sp. looks similar to a sea anemone. File:Muchroom_coral.JPG|Fungia sp. in Papua New Guinea File:Herpolitha limax.jpg|Herpolitha limax in Micronesia can appear bleached and also resemble a sea cucumber. File:Unknown Coral Front and back Macro.jpg|Fungia sp.

References

  1. WoRMS. (2015). "Fungiidae: Dana, 1846".
  2. Veron, J.E.. (2013). "Colony formation". Australian Institute of Marine Science.
  3. Halstead, Bob. 2000. ''Coral Sea Reef Guide''. Sea Challengers, Danville, CA, USA.
  4. Yossi Loya and Kazuhiko Sakai, [http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1649/2335.short "Bidirectional sex change in mushroom stony corals"], ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B'', 22 October 2008
  5. Bos, Arthur R. (2012). "Fishes (Gobiidae and Labridae) associated with the mushroom coral ''Heliofungia actiniformis'' (Scleractinia: Fungiidae) in the Philippines". Coral Reefs.
  6. Bos AR, Hoeksema BW. (2015). "Cryptobenthic fishes and co-inhabiting shrimps associated with the mushroom coral Heliofungia actiniformis (Fungiidae) in the Davao Gulf, Philippines". Environmental Biology of Fishes.

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