Home > Corals > Poritidae > Porites lichen

Updated 3/10/2014

Family Poritidae

INDO-PACIFIC / HAWAII

Porites lichen

Kure Atoll, NWHI, 60 feet

Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 20 feet

cropped

 

Haleiwa Trench, Oahu, 20 feet

 

LICHEN CORAL

Rare in Hawaii except for a few scattered locations such as Haleiwa Trench on Oahu and Kure Atoll.  Very similar to Lobe Coral except it forms thin plates with free edges.  Calices are small and bowl-shaped with smooth solid walls.  Retracted polyps are below the surrounding area.  In my opinion Hawaiian specimens appear different from the true species elsewhere.  Hawaii & the Indo-Pacific.

All coral skeletons illustrated are from scientific collections taken prior to 1998.