Budding Toadstool (Sarcophytum) [81]

Budding Toadstool (Sarcophyton)

Type: Soft Coral

Scientific Name: Sarcophyton sp.

PAR: 75?200

Flow: Moderate, varied flow

Placement: Low Third to Mid Third

Description

Budding Toadstool is an unusual Sarcophyton leather coral that develops small daughter growths or buds around the parent colony. These give it a much more textured and interesting growth form than a traditional single-cap Toadstool, particularly as the coral matures.

Toadstools are octocorals, with each extended polyp carrying eight feathery tentacles. Rather than building a solid stony skeleton, their flexible body is supported by thousands of microscopic calcium carbonate structures called sclerites.

Why We Like It

We already like Toadstools for the size and shape they can bring to a reef, but the budding growth makes this one a bit different. Watching the smaller growths develop around the main coral gives it extra character, and mature specimens can develop into fantastic, complex colonies.

Care Notes

A hardy, photosynthetic soft coral that doesn't require direct feeding. Moderate varied flow encourages good polyp extension and assists its natural shedding process. Like other Toadstools, it can periodically close and shed a thin waxy surface layer before reopening.