One of just two species in its genus, Plesiastrea versipora forms large colonies, which can measure several metres in diameter at high latitudes, but are usually smaller in the tropics (1) (3). The colonies usually have a rounded shape in exposed, shallow areas, and are more flat and plate-like on reef slopes, where light intensity is low (1). Frequently lobed, they may be yellow, cream, green or brown in colour, usually being pale in the tropics and brightly coloured at higher latitudes.
As in all corals, each colony is formed from many tiny, anemone-like animals, known as polyps, which secrete the hard coral skeleton. In this species, each individual polyp possesses its own, conical wall, bearing numerous short tentacles, of two alternating sizes, which surround a central ‘mouth’. Plesiastrea versipora can be distinguished from the related Plesiastrea devantieri by its more numerous septa, the radial elements that project inwards from the skeletal walls of the polyps (3).