Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fassbender, Nico, Stefanoudis, Paris V, Filander, Zoleka Nontlantla, Gendron, Gilberte, Mah, Christopher L, Mattio, Lydiane, Mortimer, Jeanne A, Moura, Carlos J, Samaai, Toufiek, Samimi-Namin, Kaveh, Wagner, Daniel, Walton, Rowana & Woodall, Lucy C, 2021, Reef benthos of Seychelles - A field guide, Biodiversity Data Journal 9, pp. 65970-65970 : 65970

Pocillopora damicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Pocillopora damicornis; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa; order: Scleractinia; family: Pocilloporidae; genus: Pocillopora; scientificNameAuthorship: Linnaeus, 1758; Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Seychelles; locality: Aldabra N 1, Aldabra W 1, Alphonse N 1, Astove W 1, Poivre E 1 ; minimumDepthInMeters: 8.8 m; maximumDepthInMeters: 32 m; locationRemarks: First Descent : Seychelles Expedition ; Identification : identifiedBy: Gilberte Gendron , Nico Fassbender , Paris Stefanoudis , Rowana Walton ; dateIdentified: 2019, 2020; identificationRemarks: identified only from imagery; Event : samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR SCUBA; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Colonies are branching with branches shorter than those of other species of its genus. Morphology correlated to environmental parameters with colonies in calmer waters being more open and branched and colonies in high-energy environments appearing more compact. Maximum recorded size: 35 cm across. Colouration normally pale-brown, but can appear greenish and pink. P. damicornis is the only species of Pocillopora that we saw during our dives that could be continuously identified to species level (Fig. 101).