defination of coral

[marinakid]

Can any kind reefer explain to me the different between mushroom, zoa, yuma and anemone? what is classfied under soft coral. after reading up for week. i still quite confused with these different species.

Thank in advance!!!

[LaW]

zoa, mushroom and yuma are soft corals

anemone is an invertebrate animal and not to be considered coral.

yuma can consider mushroom as well.

and some people debated that mushroom and yuma are small anemone.

i only have much knowledge on them and hope that helps u clear ur doubt more.

[yikai]

Can any kind reefer explain to me the different between mushroom, zoa, yuma and anemone? what is classfied under soft coral. after reading up for week. i still quite confused with these different species.

Thank in advance!!!

Hi. here is an explanation. listen up because this is important and will help you in the future

Corals are animals under the class Anthozoa. These animals can be solitary or colonial. Basically there are 2 types of coral. Hard coral and Soft coral. Hard corals are colonial animals that secrete calcium carbonate to build a skeletal base. Very good examples are large polyped stony corals (LPS) and Small polyped stony corals (SPS). LPS as their name suggests, has very large polyps relative to skeleton size. examples of these are hammer corals, plate corals, and most other fleshy corals with calcium skeleton base.

SPS are colonial animals with tiny polyps that sit in calcium skeletons too. these however are made up of hundreds and thousands of polyps in a giant skeleton lattice. such examples are acropora, montipora, milliepora and other SPS corals.

Next we have our soft corals. Like hard corals, soft corals can be grouped into different catergories. we have our corralimorphs, xenniidae, dendronepthlia, sacrocrypton etc etc the list is endless

These soft corals have no skeleton and may live solitary (mushrooms) or colonial (zoanthids).

to answer your other question, mushroom, zoa, yuma and anemone.

Mushrooms are corallimorphs. they are not true corals. they are sometimes called mushroom anemones because they have the basic anemone structure minus the stinging ability. these corals grow single and reproduce by budding. Images can be found online. example of mushrooms are (Actinodiscus sp, rhodactis sp, discosoma sp, etc)

Yumas belong to a group of mushroom corallimorphs called Ricordea. Ricordea has two main species, ricordea yuma, and ricordea florida. a yuma looks like a mushroom coral except it has many 'tentacles' all around its disc. it can sting and can capture food particles, albeit weakly. this yuma is differentiated by florida by the presense of tentacles on the mouth.

next, zoanthid. zoanthids are colonial soft corals, otherwise known as colonial anemones. they are colourful encrusting organisms that bear a close resemblance to anemones. contains poisonous toxin known as palytoxin. these animals grow in large mats and close when there are no lights.

finally, anemones. these are not corals but rather, animals. i'm sure u know what they look like. as cnidarians, they resemble alot like corals but are actually animals. they can move and contain large copious amount of nematocyst which fire and kill prey on contact. to differentiate between an anemone and a coral, look at it. anemones are large single based polyps attatched to substrate. it is easy to differentiate, but smaller specimens may come off as ricordeas, especially the carpet anemones.

detailed differentiation can be classified by reproduction between anemones and corals. but its too detailed and the above should suffice in answerinf your questions

[Thexder]

Lemon bro, I think you confused him more

[yikai]

Lemon bro, I think you confused him more

maybe simple pictures will be better?

[jackywongto]

mushrooms

zoas

yumas

looks like mushrooms but they are more "bubbly".

see the bubbles?

[yikai]

good job jacky

[macrobutt]

Excellent!!!

These has helped me a lot.

Thanks for the effort.

BTW, are there web sites that identify different kind of corals, its habitat and its requirements?

Thanks again!

[pokmingsheng]

Excellent!!!

These has helped me a lot.

Thanks for the effort.

BTW, are there web sites that identify different kind of corals, its habitat and its requirements?

Thanks again!

you can try Live Aquaria

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquariu...plies.cfm?c=597

[yikai]

www.wetwebmedia.com is another great website. infact this is better since the pictures show the corals in their live natural habitat, with good write up by mr bob fenner

[marinakid]

Thanks fellow reefer, it indeed enriching. How about prata ? is it classified under LPS ?

[Thexder]

Thanks fellow reefer, it indeed enriching. How about prata ? is it classified under LPS ?

Yes, actual name is scolymia. Prata is just our Singlish way of naming it

[macrobutt]

you can try Live Aquaria

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquariu...plies.cfm?c=597

Sorry for the late reply. This is a splendid website and would be extremely helpful for a long time. It would be perfect if they advise how to sex fauna though.