Toadstool Leather Coral

Toadstool Leather(Sarcophyton alcyonidae) corals belong to the large group of leather corals.  They are light brown in color.  The coral has a large heavy stock with a rounded wavy cap similar to a mushroom.  The cap is covered with tentacles which have lighter, golden colored polyps at their tips.  These tentacles may be extended during the day or night.

Toadstool leathers tend to be very hardy corals.  They will sometimes withdraw their tentacles and get a waxy look to their surface for periods of time of up to a week or more.  This is normal as the animal periodically sloughs off a layer of skin.   Very extended periods of withdrawal can indicate that the coral is not happy with its environment.  Usage of Phosguard and similar aluminum based phosphate binding agents can cause the leather coral to withdraw as well.  This doesn't seem to cause long term problems for the coral. They are tolerant of most lighting conditions and prefer low current. The symbiotic algae zooxanthellae hosted within its body provides the majority of its nutritional needs from the light driven process of photosynthesis. It will also benefit from additional food such as micro-plankton and baby brine shrimp.

Toad corals are easily propagated by cutting the cap off and dividing it into multiple sections.  The stalk will start to regrow a crown within a couple of weeks.  The sectioned crown pieces can be placed on a gravel bed in low water flow and they will attach to gravel particles within a couple of weeks.  They can then be super glued to a suitable substrate such as a reef plug.