Porites rus (Forskal, 1775)

Amjad, Farah, Ahusan, Mohamed, Amir, Hana, de Villiers, Nina M, Gress, Erika, Mah, Christopher L, Naeem, Shafiya, Rico-Seijo, Nuria, Samaai, Toufiek, Afzal, Maryiam S, Woodall, Lucy C & Stefanoudis, Paris V, 2024, An underwater imagery identification guide for shallow, mesophotic and deep-sea benthos in Maldives, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 120128-e 120128 : e120128-

Porites rus

Materials

Type status: Other material. Taxon: scientificName: Porites rus ; kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Cnidaria; class: Anthozoa-Hexacorallia; order: Scleractinia ; family: Poritidae ; genus: Porites ; scientificNameAuthorship: (Forskål, 1775); Location: waterBody: Indian Ocean; country: Maldives; locality: North Male’, Vaavu, Laamu, Huvadhu, Addu, Fuvahmulah ; minimumDepthInMeters: 2; maximumDepthInMeters: 30; locationRemarks: Nekton Maldives Mission; Identification: identifiedBy: Farah Amjad, Paris Stefanoudis, Mariyam Shidha Afzal, Hana Amir; dateIdentified: 2022, 2023; identificationRemarks: Identified only from imagery; Event: samplingProtocol: Submersible OR Remotely Operated Vehicle OR Snorkel; Record Level: basisOfRecord: Human observation

Notes

Individual colonies can take on multiple morphologies shifting from encrusting, plating to branching. Branching portions of the colonies form short, stubby, contorted branches. Corallites are small and frequently hidden within the structure of the colony. Colony size ~ 29 cm in the longest dimension. Pale cream and yellowish-brown with tips of branches appearing more white (Fig. 109).