Toadstool Leather Coral

Sarcophyton trocheliophorum

About This Animal

SIZE: Variable; up to 16 inches diameter, 16 inches tall

RANGE: Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. Fiji, Maldives, Philippines, Indonesia and Tonga

HABITAT: Lagoons and reefs

DIET: Some small plankton, but primarily photosynthetic deriving much of it food from symbiotic algae

ON EXHIBIT:  Boneless Beauties at Ocean Journey

Toadstools belong to a group of soft corals known as leather corals because of their soft, leather-like bodies.   Toadstools may appear in a wide variety of colors but generally turn to a shade of golden brown as the numbers of zooxanthellae in their tissues increases.

Toadstool corals go through regenerative phases where they may appear to be shrinking or dying.  This is normal for this group; after shedding a waxy coating they emerge looking better than ever.