| Porites lobata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Petalonamae |
| Class: | Hexacorallia |
| Order: | Scleractinia |
| Family: | Poritidae |
| Genus: | Porites |
| Species: | P. lobata |
| Binomial name | |
| Porites lobata | |
| Synonyms | |
List
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Porites lobata, known by the common name lobe coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on coral reefs in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. [2]
Porites lobata is a hermatypic or reef-building coral. It varies greatly in size and shape depending on its environment. On wave-exposed reef slopes it is encrusting whereas in calm water areas it can grow into large helmet-shaped or hemispherical hummocks up to 6 metres (20 ft) high and wide. Growth rates are very slow, sometimes being as little as 1 centimetre (0.39 in) per year, and this means that large corals are very old. The general colour is greenish, yellow or tan because of the zooxanthellae, single-celled microalgae, that live symbiotically within the tissues. These make organic nutrients available to the polyps through photosynthesis. [3] [4]
The corallites are very small and closely packed. They are joined directly to one another by fused but porous walls and have diagnostic skeletal characteristics that are only visible under the microscope. The septa are also fused. The polyps are 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in diameter and the coenosarc covering the skeleton is thin. [5]
Porites lobata is a common species of coral and is found in the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The range extends from East Africa, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, through Indonesia and Australian waters to the Pacific coasts of Gulf of California and Central America. [1] It is the most common coral species in Hawaii. [4] It is often the dominant species on reef margins, in lagoons and on fringing reefs at depths down to 30 metres (98 ft). [1] It occurs in a slightly deeper zone than cauliflower coral. [6]
Porites lobata is gonochoristic which means that individual colonies are either male or female. Gametes are liberated into the water column and the developing planula larvae drift with the currents as part of the zooplankton. These later settle, undergo metamorphosis and develop into polyps which found new colonies. Mortality is very high and very few recruits are found in the Eastern Pacific. Fragments of coral that become detached from the colony may also develop into new colonies. Breakup may happen as a result of wave damage or it may be due to the skeletal structure of the coral being weakened by the boring activities of date mussels ( Lithophaga spp.) or the feeding activities of fish such as the stone triggerfish (Pseudobalistes naufragium). [1]
Porites lobata forms part of the coral reef biome. Several fish species live among the lobes of the coral, some sheltering there and others, like the puffer fish ( Arothron meleagris ) grazing on the polyps. [1] The snapping or pistol shrimp ( Alpheus deuteropus ) is a commensal and lives among the lobes where it may form grooves and tunnels. [4] [6]
Porites lobata is one of the more resilient species of coral. A rise in sea temperature may kill the zooxanthellae and cause bleaching, however, it is more resistant to bleaching than many corals and if bleaching does occur, it often recovers. Tropical reefs in general are under threat from many causes. These include El Nino events, ocean acidification which tends to dissolve the coral skeleton, trawling which results in mechanical damage to reefs, and coral diseases which kill the polyps. Due to the lack of coloration, this coral is very rarely collected for use in the aquarium hobby. [1]
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mouth is fringed with tentacles. Although some species are solitary, most are colonial. The founding polyp settles and starts to secrete calcium carbonate to protect its soft body. Solitary corals can be as much as 25 cm (10 in) across but in colonial species the polyps are usually only a few millimetres in diameter. These polyps reproduce asexually by budding, but remain attached to each other, forming a multi-polyp colony of clones with a common skeleton, which may be up to several metres in diameter or height according to species.
Leaf plate montipora, also known as vase coral, cap coral, or plating montipora, is a type of small polyp stony (SPS) coral in the family Acroporidae.
Porites is a genus of stony coral; they are small polyp stony (SPS) corals. They are characterised by a finger-like morphology. Members of this genus have widely spaced calices, a well-developed wall reticulum and are bilaterally symmetrical. Porites, particularly Porites lutea, often form microatolls. Corals of the genus Porites also often serve as hosts for Christmas tree worms.
Fire corals (Millepora) are a genus of colonial marine organisms that exhibit physical characteristics similar to that of coral. The name coral is somewhat misleading, as fire corals are not true corals but are instead more closely related to Hydra and other hydrozoans, making them hydrocorals. They make up the only genus in the monotypic family Milleporidae.
Porites astreoides, commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a colonial species of stony coral in the family Poritidae.
Pavona duerdeni, the porkchop coral, is a coral that forms clusters of cream-colored lobes or discs. They grow in large colonies, divided into ridges or hillocks. The coral is considered to be uncommon due to its low confirmed abundance, yet they are more commonly found in Hawaii, the Indo-Pacific, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific. They make up some of the largest colonies of corals, and have a slow growth rate, as indicated by their dense skeletons. Their smooth appearance is due to their small corallites growing on their surface.
Galaxea fascicularis is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Euphylliidae, commonly known as octopus coral, fluorescence grass coral, galaxy coral among various vernacular names.
Poritidae is a family of stony corals. Members of the family are colonial hermatypic (reef-building) corals. They are variable in size and form but most are massive, laminar or ramose as well as branching and encrusting. The corallites are compact with very little coenosteum covering the skeleton. The walls of the corallites and the septa are porous. J.E.N. Veron considers the family is not a natural grouping but is a miscellaneous collection of genera that do not fit well elsewhere.
Montipora capitata, commonly known as rice coral or pore coral, is a stony coral in the family Acroporidae. It is a reef building species and is found in tropical parts of the Pacific Ocean.
Porites compressa, also known as finger coral or hump coral, is a species of marine stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on coral reefs and in shallow lagoons in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Pocillopora inflata is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It was first described by Peter William Glynn in 1999. It is found growing on coral reefs in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean but is nowhere abundant.
Stylophora pistillata, commonly known as hood coral or smooth cauliflower coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific region and is commonly used in scientific investigations.
Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Colpophyllia natans, commonly known as boulder brain coral or large-grooved brain coral. It inhabits the slopes and tops of reefs, to a maximum depth of fifty metres. It is characterised by large, domed colonies, which may be up to two metres across, and by the meandering network of ridges and valleys on its surface. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove, and the valleys may be tan, green, or white and are uniform in width, typically 2 centimetres. The polyps only extend their tentacles at night.
Porites porites, commonly known as hump coral or finger coral, is a species of stony coral in the genus Porites. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean and also along the coast of West Africa.
Pavona cactus, the cactus coral, potato chip coral or leaf coral, is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Agariciidae. This coral is found in shallow waters on reefs and in lagoons in tropical parts of the Indo-Pacific region.
Pocillopora verrucosa, commonly known as cauliflower coral, rasp coral, or knob-horned coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Pocilloporidae. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Dipsastraea speciosa is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It is found in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Goniopora tenuidens is a species of colonial stony coral in the family Poritidae. It occurs in shallow water in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Porites lutea is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing in very shallow water on reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes forms "microatolls" in the intertidal zone and these massive structures have been used to study trends in sea levels and sea water temperature.
