Diaseris Plates

[WesW]

I just picked up a diaseris plate this weekend in Florida and had never seen one before. I think a self fragging plate is a pretty cool little coral Does anyone else in the area have one? Once this one grows a little I'd love to frag and trade.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Is it a type of fungia?

 

[WesW]

Yes from what I've found online it is in the family fungiidae. It is also called fungia fragilis, fungia distorta, and razor coral. It grows multiple mouths and develops breaking points in the skeleton as it grows. Apparently you can either snap it along a breaking point with your hands to frag it or they will eventually split along those lines themselves.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

I had a large green fungia with a pink edge until recently. It got so big and was taking up a big space on my sand bed that I had to get rid of it.

I got it originally from Greenbean who got it from CRA. I recall that Greenbean actually found a skeleton of the fungia and John just gave it to Greenbean.

Fungias are interesting corals. A fungia coral grows a bunch of babies as it dies. Greenbean gave me a section of the skeleton with the babies. The skeleton kept making more babies, or more accurately tiny ones that were hidden in the grooves of the skeleton kept getting larger as I removed larger ones off the mother skeleton.

Fungia corals can move about the aquarium and turn themselves over, too.

 

[WesW]

I've read about them becoming a baby factory and I want one of those! From what I read sometimes it happens when they are dying but most of the time they just die. Do you know if there is any way to ensure or encourage a dying plate to make babies?

This is what my diaseris plate looks like -

 

[Tomoko Schum]

A nice coral

I don't know how to turn it into a baby factory. Mine was a skeleton with a bunch of tiny buds when I received it. Amazingly, it kept on making babies (for a few years) until I gave it away finally.