Porites

Porites sp.

Porites is a genus of stony corals, which has a cirkumtropische distribution. They occur as both in the coral reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific and Red Sea, the Caribbean and along the coast of West Africa. This makes it one of the hard coral genera with the largest area of ​​distribution.

Features

There are animal colonies, which consist of many very small individual polyps. The growth of Porites colonies is very slow, often less than an inch a year. However, since they are very old, they can be very large. Porites colonies usually form very massive, round crust-like, columnar or helmet-shaped forms. However, there are also growing species such as branched Porites cylindrica. Large colonies reaching the water surface, dies from the upper part of the colony, and it grows more laterally. Erosion over time in the middle of developing a micro- atoll called pit in the dead coral skeleton that is surrounded by living tissue. Porites species are of yellow, brown or green color. Occasionally, also violet, blue or pink tones. They are often colonized by the commensal Christmas tree worm ( Spirobranchus giganteus).

All Porites species live in symbiosis with unicellular symbiotic algae ( zooxanthellae ) from which they receive the bulk of the needed nutrients. Porites colonies are hermaphrodites ( hermaphrodites ).