coral 
ducing zoophytes are usually compound animals, young 
buds sprouting from the body of the parent polyp and 
remaining connected with it oa the same spot even after 
it is dead ; so that a piece of coral may be regarded as 
the abode either of one compound animal or of a mul- 
titude of individuals. The coralline structure sometimes 
branches like .1 shrub, sometimes spreads like a fan, or 
assumes the appearance of a brain, a flower, a mushroom, 
etc. (See cut under brain-coral.) These structures some- 
times, as in the Pacific and southern parts of the In- 
dian ocean, form reefs from 20 yards to several miles in 
breadth, extending for hundreds of miles along the coasts, 
aud also the peculiar coral islands known as atoiltt. (See 
atoll.) The more abundant reef-builders, at the more 
1. Sea-fan Cota.\(Gor0HiaJlabellKm). 2. Madrepore Coral (Madre- 
fora ceniicornis}. 3. Mushroom Coral (Futtgia dentata}. 
moderate depths, are the madrepores, astraids, porites, 
and meandrines, and, at depths of trom 15 to 20 fathoms, the 
millepores and seriatopores the great field of coral-de- 
velopment thus lying between low water and 20 fathoms. 
Coral is nearly a pure calcium carbonate, mixed with more 
or less horny or gelatinous matter. The fine red coral of 
commerce, much used for ornaments, is a sclerobasic coral, 
in appearance somewhat resembling a tree deprived of its 
leaves and twigs. It is found chiefly in the Mediterranean, 
where several coral fisheries exist, as off the coasts of 
Provence, Sardinia, etc. See Coralliffena, Corallium, Octo- 
coralla, Sclerobasica, Sclerodermata. 
2. A child's toy, consistingofabranchofsmooth 
coral with a ring attached, and usually with the 
addition of small bells and a whistle. 
I'll be thy nurse, and get a coral for thee, 
And a fine ring of bells. 
Beau, and Ft., The Captain, iii. 5. 
Her infant grandame's coral next it grew, 
The bells she jingled and the whistle blew. 
Pope, R. of the L., v. 93. 
3. The unimpregnated roe or eggs of the lob- 
ster, which when boiled assume the appearance 
of coral. 4. A fleshy-leafed crassulaceous 
house-plant, Bochea coccinea, native of South 
Africa, bearing bright-scarlet flowers Black 
coral, sclerobasic coral of the family Antipathidce. 
Blue coral, a coral of the family Helioporidte, Heliopora 
cosrulea, occurring in many of the coral reefs of the Pacific 
ocean. Cup-coral, (a) A coral of the family Cyathophyl- 
lidce. (b) Same as corallUe, 2. Eporose, perforate, ru- 
gose, tabulate, tubulose coral See Kporosa, Perfo- 
rata, Ruyoxa, Tabulata, Tubulosa. Millepore coral. See 
ily TuMpo- 
ridce. Pink coral, a pale variety of red coral, used for 
ornaments. Red coral, Corallium rubrum, an important 
genus of sclerobasic corals belonging to the order Alcyo- 
naria, the polyps possessing eight fringed tentacles. Red 
coral is highly valued for the manufacture of jewelry, and 
is obtained from the coasts of Sicily, Italy, and other parts 
of the Mediterranean. See cut under Coralligena. Star 
coral, coral of the family Aitraeidce. 
II. a. 1. Made of coral ; consisting of coral ; 
coralline : as, a coral ornament ; a coral reef. 
2. Making coral ; coralligenous : as, a coral 
polyp. 3. Containing coral; coraled ; coral- 
liferous: as, a coral grove. 4. Resembling 
coral; especially, of the color of commercial 
coral; pinkish-red; red: specifically, in her., 
used of that color when described in blazoning 
a nobleman's escutcheon according to the sys- 
tem of precious stones. See blazon, n., 2. 
Forth from her Coral Lips such Folly broke. 
Congreve, Lesbia. 
In ancient times the juggler, when he threw off his 
mantle, appeared in a tight scarlet or coral dress. Brewer. 
Coral bean. See fteajii. Coral Insect, a coral polyp; 
one of the individual animals a colony of which makes a 
coral polypidom : a popular designation, now avoided by 
careful writers, the animal not being an " insect. " Coral 
Island, an island the formation of which is due to the 
deposition of coral by polyps. See atoll. Coral lacquer, 
coral lac, ornamental \vork in which the surface is carved 
in the thickness of a red lacquer, which is applied npon a 
foundation, usually of wood. See lacquer. Coral ore, a 
1260 
curved lamellar variety of hepatic cinnabar from Idria, 
I'lirniola. Coral reef, a reef of coral. See I., 1. Coral 
shoemaker, a fish of the family Teuthididcn and genus 
Teuthix or Acanthurus, living in the coral reefs of the 
Seychelles. 
coral-berry (kor'al-ber"i), . The Symphori- 
carpus vulgaris, a shrub resembling the snow- 
berry, but having the berries dark-red and 
clustered in the axils of the leaves. 
coraled, coralled (kor'ald), . [< coral + -J2.] 
Furnished with coral ; covered with coral. 
coral-fish (kor'al-fish), n. 1 . A fish of the fami- 
ly ChcetodonticUe. 2. A fish of the family Poma- 
centridce. 
corallaceous (kor-a-la'shius), a. [< coral (LL. 
corallum) + -aceous.] Belonging to or of the 
nature of coral. 
Corallaria (kor-a-la'ri-a), n. pi. [NL., < LL. 
corallum, coral (see coral), + -aria.} A former 
name of coral polyps and some other actino- 
zoans : a loose synonym of Coralligena, or even 
of Actinozoa. 
coralled, a. See coraled. 
coralliferous (kor-a-lif ' e-rus), a. [< LL. coral- 
lum, coral (see coral), + L./erre = E. bear 1 . Cf . 
coralligerous.'] Containing or bearing coral; 
producing coral. Also coralligerous. 
eoralliform (ko-ral'i-form), a. [< LL. coral- 
lum, coral (see 'coral), + L. forma, form.] Re- 
sembling coral in structure or shape. 
Coralligena (kor-a-lij'e-na), n. pi. [NL., neut. 
pi. of eoralligen us : see coralligenous."] In some 
systems of classification, one of the primary di- 
visions of the Actinozoa, the other being the 
Ctenophora. The mouth always has one or more cir- 
clets of tentacles, slender and conical, or short, broad, 
and fimbriated. The enteroccele is divided into 6, 8, 
or more intermesenteric chambers communicating with 
cavities in the tentacles ; the mesenteries are thin and 
membranous, each ending aborally in a free edge, often 
thickened and folded, looking toward the center of the 
axial chamber ; and the outer wall of the body has no large 
paddle-like cilia. Most Coralliffena are fixed and may give 
i. Portion of a frond, about 
one half natural size. a. Tip 
of a branch, bearing a con- 
Red Coral of commerce, Corallium rubrum : portion of a branch 
of the sclerobasic polypidom or zoanthodeme, the ccenosarc divided 
longitudinally and partly removed, with two of the anthozooids in 
section. (Magnified.) 
A, A, ccenosarc or sclerobase, with deep longitudin.il canals,y, f, 
and superficial irregular reticulated canals, h, k. P, hard axis of the 
coral, with longitudinal grooves, f, answering to the longitudinal 
vessels. B, an anthozooid or polyp, with expanded tentacles, d ; k, 
mouth ; m, gastric sac ; :', its inferior edge ; j, mesenteries. B ', an- 
thozooid retracted in its cup, the tentacles, rf, withdrawn into the in- 
termesenteric chambers ; a, festooned edges of the cup; *, part of the 
body which forms the projecting tube when the actinozoan is pro- 
truded ; t , orifices of the cavities of the invaginated tentacles ; e, cir- 
cumoral cavity. 
rise by gemmation to zoanthodemes of various shapes. 
The great majority have a hard skeleton, composed chiefly 
of carbonate of lime, in some of its forms known as coral, 
which may be deposited in spicula in the body, or form 
dense networks or plates of calcareous substance. The 
chief divisions of the Coralligena. are the Ifexacoralla and 
the Octocoralla (or Alcyonaria). The Coralligena include 
all the Actinozoa which form coral, and many which do 
not, as the sea-anemones, dead-men's-flngers, etc. Nearly 
all "corals " of ordinary language are hexacoralline ; not, 
however, the red coral, with which the name is most popu- 
larly associated. 
The Actinozoa comprehend two groups the Coralliffena 
and the Ctenophora. ... In the Corallirfena the outer 
wall of the body is not provided with bands of large pad- 
dle-like cilia. Huxley, Anat. Invert., p. 138. 
coralligenous (kor-a-lij'e-nus), a. [< NL. cor- 
alligenus, < LL. corallum, coral (see coral), + L. 
-genus, producing: see -genous.] 1. Producing 
coral : as, coralligenous zoophytes. 2. Spe- 
cifically, of or pertaining to the Coralligena ; 
actinozoie. 
coralligerous (kor-a-lij'e-rus), o. [< LL. er<tl- 
litm, coral (see coral), +"L. gerere, bear, carry.] 
Same as coralliferous. 
Coralliophila 
Coralliidae (kor-a-H'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < C'ural- 
lium + -idee.'] A family of corals, represented 
by the genus Corallium, containing the well- 
known red coral of commerce, C. rubrum. There 
is a hard homogeneous sclerobasic axis, on which the 
value of the coral depends. There are eight pinnately 
fringed tentacles and other characters separating the fam- 
ily so widely from most corals that it does not belong to 
the same order, but to the alcyonarian or octocoralline 
division of the Coralliffena, many of which are not cor- 
alligenous ; and its affinities are with the gorgoniaceous 
polyps, as the sea-fans, etc. See Corallium, Coralliffena. 
Coralliinae (kor"a-li-i'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Co- 
rallium + -mcc.] "The Coralliidat regarded as a 
subfamily of Gorgoniidai. J. 1>. Dana, 1846. 
Corallimbrphidae (kor"a-li-m6r'fi-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Corallimorplia + '-ida;.'] Afamily of hex- 
amerous Actinias, with a double corona of tenta- 
cles, a corona of marginal principal tentacles 
and a corona of intermediate accessory tenta- 
cles. The septa are slightly differentiated, and are all 
f urnished with reproductive organs. The muscular system 
is weak in all parts of the body, and there is no circular 
muscle. 
Corallimorphus (kor"a-li-m6r'fus), re. [NL. 
(Mosely, 18/7) ; prop. Coralliomorphus ; < Gr. KO- 
pd^Aiov, coral (see coral), + papyri, form.] The 
typical genus of the family Corallimorphidat. 
corallin, re. See coralline, 3. 
Corallina (kqr-a-li'na), re. [NL., fern, of LL. 
corallinus : see coralline.] A genus of calcare- 
ous algae, with erect fili- 
form articulated fronds 
and opposite branches. 
There are over 30 species, most- 
ly tropical, the most common 
species, C. oflicinalis, ranging 
far northwarof. It grows every- 
where within tide-mark, and 
forms an object of great beauty 
in rock-pools, from its graceful 
structure and beautiful rose-col- 
ored or purple hues. 
Corallinaceae (kor'a-li- 
na'se-e), re. pi. [NL., < 
Coral'lina + -acece.] Same 
as Corallinece. 
Corallinaet, pi- The cor- 
allines, indiscriminately. 
coralline (kor 'a - lin), o. 
and . [< LL. COrallinUS, ceptacle and cut "longitu- 
coral-red, < corallum, coral : JSff "P" 8 '" 6 the can ~ 
see coral and -mel.J I. a. 
1 . Consisting of or containing coral ; resem- 
bling coral; coral. Specifically 2. Having a 
color somewhat resembling that of red coral ; 
red, pinkish-red, or reddish-yellow. 
A paste of a red coralline color, pale when broken, and 
reddish yellow under the fracture. 
Birch, Ancient Pottery, iv. 5. 
Coralline deposits. See deposit. Coralline ware, 
pottery made in the south of Italy during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, having a red paste resembling 
that of the classical Samian ware. The vessels have, in 
general, fantastic shapes. 11. Syer Cumin;/. Coralline 
zone, a depth of the sea in which corallines abound, in 
some classifications the third from the shore, extending 
from 15 or 25 to 35 or 50 fathoms, in the north temperate 
seas. 
II. n. 1. A seaweed with rigid calcareous 
fronds : so called from its resemblance to coral. 
See Corallina. 2. A coral or other zoophyte 
or actinozoan: a term extended also to poly- 
zoans or moss-animalcules, and to some of the 
hydrozoans. 3. [In this sense commonly cor- 
allin.~] A dye, prepared commercially by heat- 
ing together phenol, anhydrous oxalic acid, and 
oil of vitriol, and producing a very unstable 
color. It forms a reddish-green mass which yields a yel- 
low powder, consisting of aurin (Ci9H 14 O 3 ) with other 
similar substances. It is insoluble in water, but soluble 
in hydrochloric acid and alcohol. Its presence in articles 
of clothing has sometimes caused serious cutaneous erup- 
tions. Red corallin, or peony-red as it is sometimes called, 
is produced from yellow corallin by the action of ammo- 
nia at a high temperature. 
Corallines (kor-a-lin'e-e), . /il. [NL., < Coral- 
Una + -c<E.j A suborder of algse, including 
nearly all the calcareous Fltirideee, and classed 
by the earlier writers with the corals. They are 
rose-colored or purple, foliaceous or filiform, jointed or 
inarticulate, with the highly differentiated organs of fruc- 
tification borne in distinct conceptacles either externally 
or immersed in the fronds. They are especially abundant 
in the tropics. Also Corallinacece. 
corallinite (kor'a-lin-It), . [< coralline + 
-ite%.~\ A fossil coralline ; the fossil polypidom 
of coral jiolyps ; fossil coral. Also eorallite. 
COrallinoid (kor'a-lin-oid), a. [< coralline + 
-oid."] Same as cbralloid. 
A broken, granulose or corallinoid crust. 
E. Tuckerman, N. A. Lichens, i. 127. 
Coralliophila (kpr"a-li-of'i-la), re. [NL.( Adams, 
1858), < Gr. KopaMiop, coral (see coral), + fy&of, 
loving.] A genus of rhachiglossate pectini- 
