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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia > Family Fungiidae |
| Sunflower
mushroom hard coral Heliofungia actiniformis Family Fungiidae updated Jan 09 Where seen? This free-living coral with fat, white-tipped tentacles is commonly seen on Pulau Hantu and Pulau Semakau, in shallow silty, sandy areas among seagrasses, sometimes wedged among coral rubble. It was also commonly seen on Beting Bronok in the north. It is the only species in the genus Heliofungia and is considered among the largest of polyps among hard corals. Features: Circular skeleton 10-20cm in diameter with a flat smooth base. It is also sometimes called plate coral because its disk-shaped skeleton does resemble a dish. This coral is free-living (is not attached to the surface) as an adult and is a solitary polyp. The skeleton is light and the upper surface has walls in long straight lines radiating from the single slit-shaped mouth in the centre. These walls have large, rounded 'teeth'. The tissue covering the upper surface is usually striped. The tentacles are long, thick and cylindrical (they look like thick 'udon' noodles), usually brown but also bluish and even bright green. Usually with white or cream tips that are sometimes inflated to a bulbous tip. Sometimes mistaken for a sea anemone when its long tentacles obscure the hard skeleton. The hard skeleton immediately identifies it as a hard coral. The Torch coral (Euphyllia glabrescens) has tentacles that look similar to the sunflower mushroom coral. But the torch coral's tentacles are smaller. When the tentacles are retracted it resembles Fungia mushroom hard corals but can be distinguished from Fungia by the large, rounded teeth on the skeleton walls. Here's more on how to tell apart large 'hairy' cnidarians. Status and threats: Our sunflower mushroom hard corals are not listed among the endangered animals of Singapore. However, like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Trampling by careless visitors, and over-collection also have an impact on local populations. |
 Pulau Hantu, Aug 03  Pulau Hantu, Apr 04  Pulau Semakau, Aug 08 |
 Young ones attached to a hard surface. Pulau Semakau, Aug 08 |
 The underside is flat (not concave) Beting Bronok, Jun 03 |
Large, lobed teeth. |
Sunflower mushroom hard corals on Singapore shores
 Pulau Semakau, Jan 09 |
 Juveniles are stuck to a hard surface. |
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 Pulau Hantu, Aug 03  |
 Pulau Semakau, Mar 05  |
 Pulau Semakau, Apr 08  |
 Pulau Hantu, Mar 05  |
 Pulau Hantu, Aug 04  |
 Pulau Hantu, Apr 06  |
more photos of sunflower mushroom hard corals on Singapore shores
beting bronok part 1 | part 2
pulau hantu part 1 | part 2
southern shores
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References
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Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia. 3 volumes.
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