Mushroom Corals (Corallimorpharia corals)
Corallimorpharia corals are typically called Mushroom corals. Some hobbyists also call them disc anemones, false corals, elephant ear corals, umbrella corals, and mushroom false corals. These are not to be confused with the stony mushroom corals of Fungiidae or the mushroom leather corals of Sarcophyton spp. They are commonly called “false corals” because they are similar to the stony corals of Scleractinia and belong in the same subclass (Hexacorallia), but they lack the calcareous skeleton.
Mushroom corals are in the order Corallimorpharia and the subclass Hexacorallia (or also known as Zoantharia). Being in the Hexacorallia subclass means that the polyps have tentacles in multiples of six. The Corallimorpharia families and their genera are as follows: Actinodiscidae: Actinodiscus, Corallimorphidae: Corallimorphus, Corynactis, Pseudocorynactis, Ricordeidae: Ricordea, Discosomatidae: Actinodiscus, Amplexidiscus, Discosoma, Metarhodactis, Orinia, Paradiscosoma, Rhodactis, Sideractiidae: Sideractis, Nextactis, Schincteractis.
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