Porolithon is a genus of coralline red algae. although more species have been recently proposed. The Porolithon are the primary reef building algae. When coral reefs reach sea level, many corals break under the high energy impact of the waves, while coralline red algae, primarily Porolithon, continuing building and cementing the reef structure.

Taxonomy

Porolithon was a member of the family Corallinaceae until 2018 when it was moved into a new family Porolithaceae. The genus currently comprises 24 species, although more have been recently proposed based on genomic analyses. The type species of this genus, Porolithon onkodes, was originally described in 1897 as Lithothamnion onkodes by Franz Heydrich, but subsequently moved to Porolithon in 1909.

Species

Accepted species in the genus are: