Are mushrooms a coral or a polyp...

bigploch

Fan of Water
What exactly are "mushrooms" shown here?
484469237_c3393917e1.jpg


Are they coral? Are they polyps? Is there a difference? Are they different from a mushroom or toadstool coral?

What about these?
jmartinbuttonpolyp_400.JPG


Are these polyps? Are polyps a type of coral? Are zoanthids polyps or corals?

I AM LOST!?!?!
 
mushrooms are a coralimorph, a sub order of cnidaria which includes stuff like zoanthids. they're in the same family as ricordias and rhodactis and stuff like that.

The term polyp just describes the body structure of the type of coral. So a zoanthid is a coral, which displays a cylindrical body we call a polyp.

make sense?
 
just because people are confused about how any type of coral is automatically COMPLETELY different than an anemone, does not make you correct.

read this, about that particular type of soft coral. http://aquafind.com/articles/mush.php

here is what an anemone is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_anemone

now, if that mushroom ate a fish, then you can call it an anemone. otherwise, it's just a name that hobbyists call it, but it is in no way an anemone.

also, when is the last time your mushrooms detached from the rock, and wandered around until it found a nice place it liked?
 
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you mean you never seen a mushroom eat a fish, and yes mushroom can move on a rock not fast i have had red mushrooms move and leave a piece behind that grew into another mushroom. Not here to start an argument but since your a reef equipment supplier i guess like lfs owners you know everything. Just putting out info that i read somewhere and past it on i'm by far not an expert about saltwater stuff i've only been in hobby for 3 years.
 
I'm not saying I know everything, because I definitely don't. This guy asked a question, which I answered correctly. I'm trying to clear up some confusion. Please don't get defensive.
 
nothing i posted was misleading nor incorrect does that article say that the particular species of mushroom was referred to as disc anenome or not.
 
this is what was on article of pet education.com

"The Actinodiscus Mushroom Corals are also referred to as Mushroom Anemones and Disc Anemones. They were previously in a genus called Discosoma. These corals display a wide variety of colors, textures, and patterns. Some are solid colors, whereas, others are striped or spotted. The taxonomy of the various species is in a state of flux, and will probably continue to change."
 
What exactly are "mushrooms" shown here?
484469237_c3393917e1.jpg


Are they coral? Are they polyps? Is there a difference? Are they different from a mushroom or toadstool coral?

What about these?
jmartinbuttonpolyp_400.JPG


Are these polyps? Are polyps a type of coral? Are zoanthids polyps or corals?

I AM LOST!?!?!


those are nice mushrooms under my t5's they glow bright green and multply fast. i have some in both my tanks.
 
mushrooms are a type of anenome(disc anenome),

some mushrooms are like anenome, not stating that they are anenome

Uhhh yes you did state that they are anemones.

Mushrooms are sometimes referred to as "mushroom anemones" which is technically incorrect, they are not a type of anemone. Ndepratt is right -- they are coralimorphs.

Both anemones and corals are types of cnidarians, and both corals and anemones belong to the same subclass -- anthozoa. So they are closely related, but not the same thing. Jellyfish are the other major subclass of cnidarians.

A polyp is a term usually used to refer to one individual of a coral colony. So, a branch of SPS coral is made up of many hundreds of individual polyps. That picture of zoanthids you posted -- the whole thing is a colony, but each individual is called a polyp.

Hope that clears things up, and people should not be argumentative and defensive if they are proven wrong by subsequent posts! Just say "oops" and move on.
 
Uhhh yes you did state that they are anemones.

Mushrooms are sometimes referred to as "mushroom anemones" which is technically incorrect, they are not a type of anemone. Ndepratt is right -- they are coralimorphs.

Both anemones and corals are types of cnidarians, and both corals and anemones belong to the same subclass -- anthozoa. So they are closely related, but not the same thing. Jellyfish are the other major subclass of cnidarians.

A polyp is a term usually used to refer to one individual of a coral colony. So, a branch of SPS coral is made up of many hundreds of individual polyps. That picture of zoanthids you posted -- the whole thing is a colony, but each individual is called a polyp.

Hope that clears things up, and people should not be argumentative and defensive if they are proven wrong by subsequent posts! Just say "oops" and move on.

well put, there's the true expert there :P
 
now biffy your wrong now i said they were like anenomes not that they were, i only said that cause what i read in that particular article i read recently otherwise i would of past this thread over. i'm sorry i apologize didn't mean to start an argument im just a tradesman not a marine biologist.
 
Hahaha, it's cool. I get what you were saying, Darrick. There are lots of things in this hobby that are called something that they really aren't.

Like mantis shrimp. It's not even a shrimp.
 
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