Coral Description
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia >> Phylum: Cnidaria >> Class: Anthozoa >> Order: Scleractinia >> Family: Poritidae
Appearance:
- Branching colonies, sometimes with an encrusting base
- Branches may be irregular in shape if exposed to turbulence
Color: Usually cream, yellow, blue or green
Corallites: Corallites are shallow, giving a smooth appearance
Similar Species: Porites attenuata and Porites tuberculosa, however neither species are found in the Maldives. Easily confused with Palauastrea ramosa underwater as they have a similar branching pattern (but not seen in Maldives).
Habitat: Dominant species in lagoons or on back reef margins
Porites cylindrica – specimen on the natural reef
Porites cylindrica on the natural reef
Porites cylindrica – transplanted to our coral frame
Transplanted to our coral frame
Porites cylindrica – closeup of corallites
Closeup of corallites
Porites cylindrica – extended polyps
Extended polyps
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