Porites compressa, the finger coral, is an endemic Hawaiian scleractinian coral (family Poritidae) forming characteristic thick, finger-like or columnar colonies in sheltered to moderately exposed reef environments. It is one of the two dominant reef-building corals in Hawaii alongside Porites lobata and is a major contributor to Hawaiian reef carbonate accretion and structural complexity. The species harbors Symbiodiniaceae and shows variable bleaching susceptibility among genotypes, making it important for Hawaiian reef resilience research. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.