Porites lobata, the lobe coral, is one of the most widespread and ecologically dominant massive corals in the Indo-Pacific, forming large, rounded or lobate colonies that can live for centuries and reach several meters in diameter. It serves as a natural archive of ocean temperature, salinity, and pollution history through geochemical analysis of its skeletal growth bands. The species is a dominant reef-builder in Hawaiian reefs and across the tropical Pacific. It is a primary target for long-term coral reef monitoring and paleoclimate reconstruction. Genomic data have been generated for this species and are available in public databases, enabling comparative studies of cnidarian evolution and ecology.