Mobile Plate Coral

Cycloseris

Also known as Cyclo Coral, Fringe Plate Coral, Button Plate Coral, Cycloseris Plate, Disc Coral

SaltwaterCoral

Mobile Plate Coral (Cycloseris) — Zarinah Waheed, Francesca Benzoni, Sancia E. T. van der Meij, Tullia Isotta Terraneo, Bert W. Hoeksema · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–81°F (24–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 3.1 in (8 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Reef safe
Origin: Lives free on sandy and rubble bottoms between reefs across the Indo-Pacific, often in deeper or sheltered water.
Family: Fungiidae

Overview

House it on open sand in a 75 liter or larger reef with gentle flow and moderate light, keeping it off sharp rock where its underside can tear. Standard reef chemistry works well, with temperature 24 to 27 C, pH 8.1 to 8.4, and steady calcium and alkalinity for its skeleton. It photosynthesizes but responds strongly to spot feeding of mysis or small meaty foods dropped near the mouth. Keep it clear of other corals since its central mouth can sting and it may drift into neighbors.

In the wild

A small solitary disc coral that sits loose on the sand rather than cementing to rock. Each animal is a single round polyp with fine radiating ridges and a slit mouth in the center, often in bright red, orange, green, or striped patterns. Unlike its larger Fungia relatives it stays palm-sized and rounded. It inflates its tissue with water to lift off settling grit and can creep short distances across the substrate.

Good to know

Cycloseris is a genus of free-living corals in the family Fungiidae. These corals begin life attached to rock by a small stalk, then break free as a mobile disc once they mature. Research on Cycloseris cyclolites has documented it using tissue inflation and pulsing to right itself and move toward light.

Did you know

If it topples upside down it can slowly flip itself back over by pumping up its tissue, making it one of the few corals that moves under its own power.