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| hard corals text index | photo index |
| Phylum Cnidaria > Class Anthozoa > Subclass Zoantharia/Hexacorallia > Order Scleractinia > Family Fungiidae |
| Mole
mushroom hard coral Polyphyllia talpina Family Fungiidae updated Oct 11 Where seen? This rather velvety looking mushroom coral is sometimes seen on some of our Southern shores. The coral is free-living (it is not attached to the surface) and large ones may be seen on coral rubble and among living corals. Features: Skeleton longer than broad (15-25cm long) usually with rounded ends. Sometimes also oval and other irregular shapes. It has a central furrow but this is usually not distinct in large old animals. The upper side has tiny short lines that form petal-shaped, radial patterns, instead of parallel lines as in other mushroom corals. There are mouths in the central furrow as well as scattered elsewhere on the body. Tentacles are short, cylindrical to conical and white-tipped. When the tentacles are extended, they hide the skeleton and give the animal a furry look. 'Talpina' means 'mole' in Latin possibly refering to this velvety texture which resembles the fur of a mole. Colours seen include brown, grey, cream to blue, purple and green. Veron considers it to be colonial rather than a solitary polyp. It has many mouths all over the upper surface. Sometimes confused with other long mushroom corals. Here's more on how to tell apart elongated mushroom hard corals. |
 Sisters Island, Jan 06  Petal-like, radial patterns. |
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 Underside |
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Mole mushroom hard corals on Singapore shores
 Sentosa, Jul 05 |
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 Sentosa, Jun 06 |
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 Bleaching. Pulau Hantu, Jun 10 |
 Bleaching. Pulau Jong, May 10 |
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more photos of mole mushroom hard corals on Singapore shores
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9
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Links
References
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Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia. 3 volumes.
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