Toadstool (Sarcophytum) [73]

Toadstool (Sarcophyton)

Type: Soft Coral

Scientific Name: Sarcophyton sp.

PAR: 75?200

Flow: Moderate, varied flow

Placement: Low Third to Mid Third

Description

Toadstool Coral is a classic leather coral with a thick stalk supporting a broad cap covered in hundreds of fine polyps. As the coral matures, the cap becomes wider and increasingly folded, developing from a small frag into a substantial feature coral with plenty of gentle movement.

Sarcophyton are octocorals, meaning each extended polyp has eight feathery tentacles. They don't build the solid calcium carbonate skeleton of LPS or SPS corals; instead, tiny internal structures called sclerites help support their flexible body.

Why We Like It

Toadstools are proper old-school reef corals for good reason. They're hardy, easy to enjoy and can grow into genuinely impressive centrepiece colonies. A large Toadstool with its polyps fully extended adds shape, height and movement that looks completely different from a reef filled only with stony corals.

Care Notes

A hardy, photosynthetic soft coral that doesn't require direct feeding. Moderate varied flow encourages good polyp extension and helps with its natural shedding process. Toadstools periodically close and develop a smooth or waxy surface before shedding a thin film and reopening ? normal behaviour for a healthy leather coral.