Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 15 feet

Kapoho, Hawaii, 3 feet

Moku O Loe, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, 2 feet

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 4 feet

Ft. Kamehameha, Oahu, 3 feet

Makapu'u tidepool, Oahu

Makapu'u, Oahu, 5 feet

Common on shallow reefs, forming small heads about 8 inches in diameter.  Compact branches with short tips composed of verruccae bearing calices.  Colonies exposed to wave action are more compact than those in protected areas.  Easily confused with the more prickly Pocillopora acuta.  A commensal crab forms galls on some colonies.  Red Sea to Hawaii, Easter Island, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific.