Hump coral
A species of Pore corals Scientific name : Porites lobata Genus : Pore corals
Hump coral, A species of Pore corals
Botanical name: Porites lobata
Genus: Pore corals
Content
Description
Description
Porites lobata is a hermatypic or reef-building coral. It varies greatly in size and shape depending on its environment. On wave-exposed reef slopes it is encrusting whereas in calm water areas it can grow into large helmet-shaped or hemispherical hummocks up to 6 metres (20 ft) high and wide. Growth rates are very slow, sometimes being as little as 1 centimetre (0.39 in) per year, and this means that large corals are very old. The general colour is greenish, yellow or tan because of the zooxanthellae, single-celled microalgae, that live symbiotically within the tissues. These make organic nutrients available to the polyps through photosynthesis. The corallites are very small and closely packed. They are joined directly to one another by fused but porous walls and have diagnostic skeletal characteristics that are only visible under the microscope. The septa are also fused. The polyps are 1 millimetre (0.04 in) in diameter and the coenosarc covering the skeleton is thin.
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Photo By David Witherall and Jema Warta , used under CC-BY-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Cnidarians Class
Sea anemones and corals Order
Hard corals Family
Poritidae Genus
Pore corals Species
Hump coral