Blue crust coral
Porites branneri
Rathbun, 1887
Description:
Colonies form thick encrustations, of 15 cm in diameter, with knobby projections of 2.5 cm in diameter. Extended polyps give the colony a soft, fuzzy appearance. When the polyps are retracted, small, pitted, polygonal corallites give the colony a porous appearance.
Color:
Bluish to pale lilac and purple.
Corallites:
Calices narrowly spaced with a poorly developed wall. Corallites with 12 septa, 1.6-1.8 mm in diameter. Columella trabecular and discontinuous.
Habitat:
Inhabit shallow, dead areas of older reefs, down to 12 m.
Distribution:
Rare South Florida, occasional to uncommon Bahamas and Caribbean.