WoRMS taxon details
Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
AphiaID: 206953
AphiaID: 206953
| Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Cnidaria (Phylum) > Anthozoa (Class) > Hexacorallia (Subclass) > Scleractinia (Order) > Pocilloporidae (Family) > Pocillopora (Genus) |
| Status | accepted | |||||||||||||
| Record status | Edited by Database Management Team | |||||||||||||
| Rank | Species | |||||||||||||
| Parent | Pocillopora Lamarck | |||||||||||||
| Synonymised taxa |
Pocillopora brevicornis Lamarck, 1816 Pocillopora bulbosa Ehrenberg, 1834 Pocillopora caespitosa Dana, 1846 Pocillopora favosa Ehrenburg | |||||||||||||
| Sources |
basis of record: Veron, J.E.N. (1986). Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific. Angus & Robertson Publishers, London. [details] basis of record: Sheppard, C.R.C. (1987). Coral species of the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas: a synonymised compilation and some regional distribution patterns. Atoll Research Bulletin Nr 307 [details] basis of record: Veron, J.E.N. & M. Pichon (1976). Scleractinia of Eastern Australia. Part I. Families Thamnasteriidae, Astroceoniidae, Pocilloporidae. Australian Institute of Marine Science Monograph Series. Volume I. [details] additional source: S.D.Cairns, B.W. Hoeksema & J. van der Land, update Oct. 2007, as a contribution to UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisms (look up in IMIS) [details] additional source: Cairns, S.D., 2009. Stylasteridae, Scleractinia (Cnidaria). In: Gordon, D. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume One: Kingdom Animalia. 584 pp [details] | |||||||||||||
| Vernacular Names |
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| Direct child taxa [show all] | Subspecies Pocillopora damicornis bulbosa Ehrenburg Subspecies Pocillopora damicornis caespitosa | |||||||||||||
| Environment | marine, | |||||||||||||
| Distribution | Aldabra [details] Chagos [details] East Africa [details] Indo-Pacific [details] Kenya [details] Madagascar [details] Mauritius (from synonym) [details] [view taxon] Mozambique [details] New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone [details] Red Sea [details] Reunion [details] Rodriguez [details] Seychelles [details] Somalia [details] South Africa (country) [details] | |||||||||||||
| Host of |
Asteropontius corallophilus Stock, 1966 (parasitic: ectoparasitic)
Monocheres mauritianus Stock, 1966 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia fimbriata Humes, 1960 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia fissilis Humes, 1985 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia jugalis Humes, 1985 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia sectilis Humes, 1985 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia serrata Humes, 1962 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Asteropontius littoralis Ummerkutty, 1962 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Pseudomacrochiron pocilloporae Kim I.H., 2004 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Asterocheres urabensis Kim I.H., 2004 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Acontiophorus panamensis Kim I.H., 2004 (parasitic: ectoparasitic) Xarifia fimbriata Humes, 1960 (parasitic: endoparasitic) Xarifia imparilis Humes, 1985 (parasitic: endoparasitic) Xarifia jugalis Humes, 1985 (parasitic: endoparasitic) Xarifia quinaria Humes, 1985 (parasitic: endoparasitic) Xarifia serrata Humes, 1962 (parasitic: endoparasitic) Anchimolgus partenuipes Kim I.H., 2007 (symbiotic: unspecified type) Asteropontius minutus Kim I.H., 2003 (symbiotic: unspecified type) Asteropontius dissimilis Kim I.H., 2003 (symbiotic: unspecified type) | |||||||||||||
| Links | To Barcode of Life (7 barcodes) To Biodiversity Heritage Library (75 publications) To Encyclopedia of Life To GenBank (760 nucleotides; 866 proteins) To IUCN Red List To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Cnidaria Collection To ITIS | |||||||||||||
| Notes |
Biology: zooxanthellate [details] Description: Colonies are branched, usually less than 30 cm tall. The species is distinguished from other species by having thinner branches and less regular verrucae. While small, regular verrucae exist, most of the protuberances are irregular and, are often not true verrucae at all but are more like incipient branches. As a result, Pocillopora damicornis exhibits greater branching than does P. verrucosa. Pocillopora damicornis occurs at all depths between the surface and 40 m deep or more, and is particularly abundant between 5 to 20 m. It is equally abundant in lagoonal areas and clear water reef slopes. Commonly forms monospecific, densely packed stands many tens of metres across in water 5 -10 m deep. The main habitat where it is not common is where exposure is high. By virtue of its wide depth range and its geographic distribution from this region to the Pacific coast of central America, it is a candidate for the most abundant coral species (Sheppard, 1998). Verrucae and branches intergrade. Branches may be fine and widely separated (in calm environments) to very compact (on upper reef slopes). Colour: Pale brown, greenish or pink. Abundance: Very common. Occurs in all shallow-water habitats from wharf piles and mangrove swamps to exposed reef fronts (Veron, 1986). A finer species than P. verrucosa, in which the verrucae often are as big as the branches and the corallites 0.8-1 mm across. Colour: varies from pink to green, brown or pale straw. Habitat: reef flats and shallow water substrates (Richmond, 1997). [details] Remark: Original combination in Sheppard (1998). Type locality: "Oceanus Asiatico" (Veron, 1986). [details] | |||||||||||||
| Image |
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| LSID | urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:206953 | |||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Edit history |
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[Taxonomic tree] [Distribution map] [Google] [Google scholar] [Google images] | ||||||||||||||
| Citation: WoRMS (2013). Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=206953 on 2013-05-24 | ||||||||||||||
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