A popular Caribbean species that comes in an assortment of colors.

Atlantic/Caribbean - Caribbean Sea including South Florida, East Coast of Mexico, Caribbean Islands, and the northern coast of Brazil.

Medium to high lighting would serve this species well. Ricordea can be kept under high output fluorescent bulbs, but may benefit from more intense lighting. It will likely change its coloration depending on the lighting provided. Ricordea may require a longer acclimation period to intense lighting such as metal halides.

Moderate water movement is recommended.

Like most coral, Ricordea rely to a large extent on the products of their zooxanthellae, however, in our experience, they also benefit from direct feeding. There are a variety of frozen fish foods available that make outstanding meals for Ricordea. We like to feed a mixture of meaty foods such as shrimp, fish, and squid with vitamin additives and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). The size of the food must be small enough that the polyp can fully ingest it.

Ricordea species have randomly pimpled, polka-dotted surfaces with the dots often of a contrasting color. Lengthened tentacles may occur around the edges of the disc. Ricordea grow very low against the substrate, rarely showing a visible stalk and blanketing the rocks on which they are attached. Ricordea mushrooms can be subtly or brightly colored in iridescent red, green, yellow, orange, or blue toward the margins, becoming more muted toward the center, and with a green protruding mouth. The current regulations forbid the collection of Ricordea florida that are attached to liverock from the Caribbean. Unattached Ricordea however are fair game.

This genus for the most part has been propagated extensively in captivity and is an excellent candidate for aquaculture. It is reasonable to believe that a sustainable harvest can be achieved in time.