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Porites irregularis

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Image:	Close-up of colony, Raiatea	35KB

General Information

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Cook Islands - Tuamotu

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Endemic of se.Polynesia; Marine, near-shore, Seaward reef; 15-25m

KEY FEATURES: Has a irregular form, with the tips of the short branches appear eroded or fuse to adjacent branches. The tips are gray, white or cream, while the lower parts are amber. This species differs by having the calices in meandering rows separated from other rows by very high thin walls. The pali are moderately projecting, and the triplet have free margins. (after Paulay 1988)

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
			+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Porites irregularis (Quelch, 1884)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CNIDARIA (=Coelenterates); ANTHOZOA; ZOANTHARIA (=Hexacorallia); Scleractinia (=Madreporaria); PORITIDAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: This species is thought to be an endemic of se.Polynesia and is NOT the same as Porites irregularis (Verrill, 1864), which is a synonym of Porites rus (Forskal, 1775).

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Mauke: specimen, 15-25m, Thesis88, ID G.Paulay.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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