No photo available
Moloka‘i cauliflower coral
Pocillopora molokensis
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 411253, checked 2026-10-31).
Possibly present in the Maldives
- English
- Moloka‘i cauliflower coral
- Scientific
- Pocillopora molokensis
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Hard corals
- IUCN status
- VU · VulnerableVulnerable (VU), assessed 2023CITES Appendix II
- Record in the Maldives
- Possibly present
Description
A Pocillopora coral: a bushy branching coral whose branches are covered in small wart-like lumps (verrucae). Pocillopora are among the first corals to settle on damaged reefs, and often shelter coral crabs and shrimps among their branches. It is told apart from related species only by close examination of the skeleton.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: literature records via OBIS (IndOBIS). Only one kind of evidence was found, so it is listed as possibly present.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Pocillopora-molokensis.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=411253
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.