Anemone mushroom coral

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Anemone mushroom coral
Anemone coral (Heliofungia actiniformis) (8491771017) .jpg

Anemone mushroom coral ( Heliofungia actiniformis )

Systematics
Class : Flower animals (anthozoa)
Subclass : Hexacorallia
Order : Hard corals (Scleractinia)
Family : Mushroom corals (Fungiidae)
Genre : Heliofungia
Type : Anemone mushroom coral
Scientific name of the  genus
Heliofungia
Wells, 1966
Scientific name of the  species
Heliofungia actiniformis
( Quoy & Gaimard , 1833)

The anemone mushroom coral ( Heliofungia actiniformis , syn .: Fungia actiniformis ) is a solitary living stony coral whose very large single polyp covers the skeleton so that it looks like a sea ​​anemone . It occurs in the southeast Indian Ocean to the western Pacific , from Australia to the Ryūkyū Islands , Micronesia and New Caledonia . There she lives in shallow, light-flooded water, e.g. B. in clear lagoons . Heliofungia actiniformis is the only species in the genus Heliofungia Wells 1966.

features

Adult Heliofungia actiniformis live freely, the skeleton is not, as in juvenile specimens, attached to rock or any other solid substrate. The polyp is flat, disc-shaped, and greenish to gray-brown in color. When inflated, it can reach a diameter of 30 to 50 centimeters. The 15 to 25 centimeters long tentacles have spherical, light, green or pink ends. They are the longest tentacles of all corals. The mouth opening is in the middle and is 3 centimeters wide. The mouth disc is streaked.

The anemone mushroom coral lives in symbiosis with zooxanthellae , small, unicellular algae from the group of dinoflagellates , which are important for the nutrition of the coral. Fungal coral pipefish and young cardinalfish often hide between the tentacles .

Reproduction

Heliofungia actiniformis reproduces sexually, in the Great Barrier Reef the germ cells are released into the water in October and November. However, like other fungal corals , it also has the opportunity to form small daughter polyps called anthocauli on the underside of its skeleton, which after some time separate from the mother polyp. These forms of asexual reproduction result in clones of the mother polyp.

literature

  • Julian jump: corals. An identification book . Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen 2000, ISBN 3-92168-487-0 .
  • Helmut Schumacher, Johann Hinterkircher: Lower marine animals. Sponges, corals, crabs, snails, starfish and others . BLV, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-405-14854-5 .
  • Svein A. Fosså, Alf J. Nilsen: Cnidarians in the coral reef and for the coral reef aquarium (Coral reef aquarium; Vol. 4). Schmettkamp Verlag, Bornheim 1995, ISBN 3-928819-05-4 .
  • Charles J. Delbeek, Julian Sprung: The Reef Aquarium , Volume 1 . Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen 1996, ISBN 1-883693-17-9 .
  • Harry Erhardt, Horst Moosleitner: Invertebrates (Mergus Sea Water Atlas, Vol. 2). Mergus-Verlag, Melle 1997, ISBN 3-88244-112-7 .

Web links

Commons : Anemone Mushroom Coral  - Collection of images, videos and audio files