| Discosoma | |
|---|---|
| |
| A red mushroom coral | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Corallimorpharia |
| Family: | Discosomidae |
| Genus: | Discosoma Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828 |
| Species | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Discosoma is a genus of cnidarians in the order Corallimorpharia. Common names for the genus include mushroom anemone, disc anemone and elephant ear mushroom.
Most species are disc-shaped and produce large amounts of mucus. There are a great variety of colors, including metallic and fluorescent shades and striped and spotted patterns. Discosoma gather food particles from the water. Some species absorb nutrients produced by zooxanthellae, photosynthetic dinoflagellates living in their tissues in a symbiotic relationship.
Some species are sold commercially in the aquarium trade.
The red fluorescent protein dTomato which has applications in molecular biology as a reporter protein was first derived from the species.
There are approximately 11 recognized species:
- Discosoma album
- Discosoma carlgreni – Forked-tentacle corallimorpharian
- Discosoma dawydoffi
- Discosoma fowleri
- Discosoma fungiforme
- Discosoma molle
- Discosoma neglecta – Umbrella corallimorpharian
- Discosoma nummiforme
- Discosoma rubraoris
- Discosoma unguja
- Discosoma viridescens
References
- "Discosoma Rüppell and Leuckart, 1828". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2011-12-18.
- de Blainville, H. M. D. (1830). Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles (in French). Vol. 60. Strasbourg and Paris: F. G. Levrault. p. 287.
- Harmin, Cha (2007). Systematics of the order Corallimorpharia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). University of Kansas. pp. 83–85. ISBN 978-0-549-13246-2.
- ^ Sprung, J. Aquarium Invertebrates: Mushrooms, Elephants Ears, And False Corals: A Review Of The Corallimorpharia. Advanced Aquarist Volume 1. October 2002.
- Lambert, Talley. "dTomato at FPbase". FPbase. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- Fautin, D. G. (2013). Discosoma. World List of Corallimorpharia. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) on 18 March 2018.
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Discosoma | |
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