Pore Coral

About

Pore coral (Montipora patula) is one of Hawaii's own, found nowhere else in the world. A true endemic species restricted to the shallow reef environments of the Hawaiian archipelago. In the wild it forms some impressively large colonies, with encrusting or tiered plating growth that can stretch well beyond two meters across. The plates typically have free, unfused edges that give the colony an open, layered look, a little like stacked shelves. Up close, the surface has a rough, almost sandpaper texture from the small irregular corallites, with papillae clustered tightly around each one. Coloration is generally a warm tan across the skeleton, but the polyps themselves tend to be purple, which gives an extended colony a distinctly two-toned appearance. In the aquarium, this is not a coral for beginners. Being a Hawaiian species, it is adapted to very intense, clear-water light and strong water movement, and it will not thrive without both. Its limited natural range also makes it a species worth approaching with some research. Wild collection is restricted, and captive-grown frags are the responsible route. For an experienced reef keeper who can meet its demanding conditions, it is a genuinely unusual Montipora with real natural history behind it.