Red coral

Scientific name : Corallium rubrum

Colony with a compact calcareous skeleton, tipically red, even if speciements with a pink or white or black skeleton are rarely found. Polyps are big, pinnates, white, and they are estroflected during the predation. The colony is branched, almost planar, and may grow up to 30 cm, even if speciements so big are hard to find because of the indiscriminate fishery made by humans, especially in the past.
It lives in caves and on almost vertical walls exposed to the current, usually under 30 meters of depth.

Red coral Author FEDERICO BETTI Id: 1