Red Coral: the Jewel of the Mediterranean

Published the 24.05.2018

Red Coral: the Jewel of the Mediterranean

The Red Coral or "Corallium rubrum" is considered a typical species of the Mediterranean, although some populations have been reported in Portugal and Cape Verde.

It needs particular living conditions such as: constant salinity of water, reduced water movement and attenuated lighting.

It lives, preferably in shady and sheltered places such as caves, cliffs or cracks in the rocks, from depths of 20 \ 30 meters up to 200 meters.

Exceptionally, it was also observed at very low depths from 4 meters to 80 centimeters, particularly in Italy in the areas of Porto Conte, Capo Caccia and Punta Giglio in the North-West of our beloved Sardinia and especially in the territory of Alghero, our Native town, named for this set, you have the surroundings, the Coral Riviera. Instead in Liguria, in the marine reserve of Portofino is present at depths between 15 and 45 meters.

Corallium rubrum rubrum is a very slow growing species. Form ramified colonies, which can exceed 20-30 cm in height, usually bright red, but sometimes pink, rarely albine colonies of completely white color are observed.

The calcareous skeleton, very hard and sought after as a material for the construction of jewelry, is covered with a layer of soft tissue called cenosarco, which is removed during processing and before polishing for the creation of jewelry and artistic sculptures. Of this we intend to talk to you better in the next posts..

It feeds on plankton and suspended organic substances, captured by the tentacles of polyps. These tentacles are eight and the pinnate ends year, they are visible only during the capture of food.

It has a growth of about 3-4 cm a year in height and of 0.25-0.60 mm a year in diameter. This makes it particularly vulnerable to the collecting action of man, who was once operated with destructive methods. Today, fortunately, it's not like that anymore. Now a selective fishing is carried out, where the underwater coral reef chooses only the largest branches and in the quantities established by law, at the same time allowing the protection of the species. In this regard, it seems right to mention the recent establishment of the protected natural marine area of Capo Caccia-Isola Piana, within which a specific area of absolute respect has been created to preserve the "Grotta del Corallo", a cave where interior ceilings and throughout the surrounding area there is still a good amount of coral and for which a unique project of restocking is underway with the creation of special supports to which coral fragments from grafting have been grafted of cutting supplied by corallars professional divers operating in the area.

It is estimated that in the past years, only in the Mediterranean, 60 tons of coral were fished each year. Currently, this quantity has been greatly reduced, thanks to the change in the policies for the protection and management of marine flora and fauna that governments have banned massive collection techniques.

The fishing previously took place by means of a boat that dragged on the bottom a large cross of wood with equal arms, known as ingenious, weighed down through large boulders and to which nets of hemp were attached. With this system the various coral stocks were completely eradicated and the whole submerged environment was destroyed at the points where the instrument was passed.

Red coral from time immemorial is fished and marketed mainly for the creation of jewelry and works of art. Mostly it is mounted on gold or silver and drilled to obtain necklaces and bracelets.

You can admire some of our creations directly on our web page. El Coral

We hope to see you at the next post.