Florida Ricordea

Care at a glance

Overview

A sessile Caribbean corallimorph that reproduces by splitting into new heads. It is passive and low-sting, easygoing about placement in the calmer lower reef, and prized more for its jeweled color than for any aggressive behavior.

In the wild

Ricordea florida is a Caribbean corallimorph covered in rounded bubble-like vesicles that catch light beautifully under blue LEDs. It likes low to moderate light, roughly 50 to 120 PAR, and gentle indirect flow that keeps it clean without lifting it off the rock. Place it low to mid in the tank on rock or rubble where it can attach, and acclimate it to your lighting gradually rather than dropping it straight under intense light.

Good to know

Ricordea florida is a corallimorph, not a true stony coral, and unlike its Indo-Pacific cousin Ricordea yuma it comes from the Atlantic. It relies on zooxanthellae for most of its energy and can also take in fine particulate food. Much of the Florida ricordea in the trade is still wild-collected, though aquacultured and split frags are increasingly common, and colonies expand naturally by dividing.

Did you know

The tiny fluorescent vesicles covering a ricordea often glow in mixed colors under actinic light, and a single disc can display a green mouth ringed by orange or blue nubs, which is why collectors chase specific color combinations.

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