Leaf coral

About this species

Pavona duerdeni, the porkchop coral, is a coral that forms clusters of cream-colored lobes or discs. They grow in large colonies, divided into ridges or hillocks. The coral is considered to be uncommon due to its low confirmed abundance, yet they are more commonly found in Hawaii, the Indo-Pacific, and the Tropical Eastern Pacific. They make up some of the largest colonies of corals, and have a slow growth rate, as indicated by their dense skeletons. Their smooth appearance is due to their small corallites growing on their surface.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pavona duerdeni”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 221 records
February: 28 records
March: 171 records
April: 1,189 records
May: 39 records
June: 30 records
July: 24 records
August: 36 records
September: 453 records
October: 538 records
November: 109 records
December: 18 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–48 m · Deepest record: 76.5 m

0–10 m: 931 records
10–20 m: 69 records
20–30 m: 45 records
30–40 m: 339 records
40–50 m: 1,005 records
50–60 m: 102 records
60–70 m: 17 records
70–80 m: 9 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 351 records
26–28 °C: 98 records
28–30 °C: 444 records

Photos

(c) Alberto Alcalá, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alberto Alcalá · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ryan McMinds, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) keesgroenendijk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Leaf coral, leaf coral, Pavona coral, Porkchop Coral

Names in 3 more languages

Japanese: ハマシコロサンゴ
Thai: ปะการังลายดอกไม้
Simplified Chinese: 厚板雀屏珊瑚, 鈍柱雀屏珊瑚

Similar species

Leaf coral
Pavona varians
Leaf coral
Pavona cactus
Leaf coral
Pavona clavus
Leaf coral
Pavona decussata
Leaf coral
Pavona explanulata
Leaf coral
Pavona gigantea

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,692 open-data records from 1907 to 2012.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.