Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758) - red coral from offshore Italy. (~5.7 centimeters across at it widest)
Precious red coral (also known as the noble coral) is an attractive type of modern octocoral. Polished fragments have been used as organic gemstones for centuries. The skeleton is composed of aragonite (CaCO3) mixed with reddish-colored organic compounds. Corallium rubrum occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Classification: Animalia, Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Gorgonacea, Corallidae
Locality: reef in the Mediterranean Sea, offshore Italy ("Coast of Italy")
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