Size: upto 30 cm.

 

Key Features: Usually cream or yellow but may be bright colours in shallow water. Colonies are hemispherical or helmet-shaped and may be over 4 metres across. They usually form micro-atolls in intertidal habitats. The surface is usually smooth.

 

Diet: Plankton, Zooxanthellae / Light

 

Habitat: This species occurs with P. lobata and P. australiensis on back reef margins, lagoons and fringing reefs, generally to depths of 30 m. Itis commonly found from 1-15 m, with massive colonies at 3-5 m, in the South China Sea and Gulf of Siam. In American Samoa, one colony is known to be 6.5 m tall and 41 m circumference.

 

Conservation status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

IUCN Red List. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/133082/0

 

Porites lutea. In Australian Institute of Marine Science. Retrieved on June 18, 2014 from http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0320

 

Porites lutea. In Reeflex , the Marine Aquarium Encyclopedia. Retrieved on June 18, 2014 from http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/2104_Porites_lutea.htm

 

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project, Second Interim Progress Report, GEER Foundation, June 2012

 

 

Photo Courtesy

Charlie Veron. Australian Institute of Marine  Science. Licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 via Creative Commons