General Information

COMMON NAMES: Wide-lobed Porites TRADITIONAL NAMES: Punga (MK MT AK TS TW) COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Marine, near-shore, SW SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine KEY FEATURES: Large (often several metres across), green, brown, or blue, mushroom or helmet-shaped colony. Usually found outside the reef. SIMILAR SPECIES: Indistinguishable from other massive Porites, especially Porites solida, except by expert comparative studies. The projecting domes and columns are reasonably distinctive.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Porites lobata (Dana, 1846)
SYNONYMS: Porites (Porites) lobata

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CNIDARIA (=Coelenterates); ANTHOZOA; ZOANTHARIA (=Hexacorallia); Scleractinia (=Madreporaria); PORITIDAE

IDENTIFICATION: Gp.8. Massive (to several metres diameter) or encrusting, often projecting into domes or columns. Live colour is olive green, chartreuse green, brown or blue. This species differs by having deeply excavated calices (1.2-1.5mm diameter), clearly polygonal with elevated walls, thin septa, and poorly developed pali. Porites "general" has closely-spaced ±polygonal calices, 0.7-1.5mm diameter, with conspicuous porous walls of rods and flakes, 12 porous lattice-like septa, some septa having an inner-spine (=pali), and the columella is pinnacle-like.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen+photo, lagoon, S.Miller (2002) ID per Veron (AIMS Mono Series), NHP#SM024.

References:
Special Reference: Veron, J.E.N. & Pichon, M. (1982). Scleractinia of Eastern Australia. Part IV Family Poritidae. Australian Institute of Marine Science Monograph Series 5. p 16-18.

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

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images