It varies in shape, sometimes forming knobbly mounds which can grow to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) across, and sometimes having a more open structure with short branches several centimetres in diameter.

[3] It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the fact that it has swollen ends to the branches, a small number of pointed verrucae (or none at all) and prominent columellae on the lower part of the colony.

Most Pocilloporids brood their planula larvae, and this may also be true of Pocillopora inflata, but it has on one occasion been observed to broadcast eggs and sperm into the sea in a synchronised spawning event.

Invertebrate predators include the crown-of-thorns starfish, the sea urchin, Eucidaris galapagensis, and the gastropods, Jenneria pustulata and Quoyula sp.

[1] Pocillopora inflata has several mutualistic symbionts including the crab, Trapezia sp., and certain snapping shrimps which protect it from attack by its major predator, the crown-of-thorns starfish.