Porites Corals…
Finger
Corals (Common Name)
Many
Porites Species- Porites Porites Pictures Right
Suborder:
Fungiida
Family:
Poritidae
Size: Colony to 1-4 ft, Branch Diameter of ˝-1 ˝ inches (Personal Observation/published data)
Known Depth Ranges: 3-160 Feet (Published data)
Known Temperature Range: 70-84 (Known temp range where collected)
Known Current Range: 0-3 knots (Personal Observation)
Known Silt Tolerance: moderate to low tolerant (From site conditions)
Known Salinity Range: 1.019-1.027 (From tank Conditions)
Transplant Documentation:
High success rates. Perhaps one of the most hardy of finger corals and relatively fast growing too. These species can vary their morphology greatly to adapt to local conditions. Common forms include Forma Divaricata, Forma Furcata, and Forma Porites. (There is some scientific controversy if these are different morphologies or separate species, therefore if you start with one form and after transplanting end up with a different form this information would be valuable to scientists to end this debate). These species do not grow downward as well as Acropora so you want to get a very solid embedding in your cement plug. Sideways will provide more branching tips generally but the upright position might yield a more solid embedding into the plug.
Propagation Documentation:
Easy to propagate with wire cutters. This species has a harder skeleton than Acropora so use heavy duty cutters.
Other Notes:
Smaller diameter fragments might also benefit from antibiotic treatment at the injury site…see Acropora notes for details.
RESISTANCE TO ALGAE INDUCED PREDATION (Parrot Fish)
Porites porites and Madracis mirabilis (finger and pencil coral) showed recovery (regeneration of damaged tissue) of such predator actions can easily occur within a month as long as there is enough living tissue left and no further impact on the coral fragments occurs. This may indicate that predators can destroy coral fragments but also rescue them from coverage by algae. Such relationships have been noted in the Pacific of Butterfly fish eating coral eating nudibranchs helping to save them rather than being the predator it was always assumed.