Scholarly Article
The biology and biomineralogy of the red coral: the Lacaze-Duthiers legacy
Vielzeuf, D., Allemand, D., Shick, J.M., Arnaud, V., Bodin, S., Bramanti, L.
2023-06-01 · Life and Environment · Sorbonne Université
Abstract
In the early 1860s, Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Natural Sciences, then a professor of zoology at the University of Lille and later at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, was entrusted with a mission by the French government to study the Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum; Cnidaria; Anthozoa; Octocorallia). Lacaze-Duthiers spent nearly two years at El Kala in Algeria and collected the results of his work in a remarkable book published in 1864 and entitled Histoire Naturelle du Corail - Organisation - Reproduction - Pêche en Algérie - Industrie et Commerce (Natural History of the Coral - Organization - Reproduction - Fishing in Algeria - Industry and Trade). We present here a critical review of Lacaze-Duthiers' observations on the red coral with translation in English and quotation of many selected passages augmented by the reproduction of the twenty colored plates appearing in Lacaze-Duthiers' book, with translation in English of the figures' legends. This article is also an opportunity to review the current state of knowledge on the red coral with respect to its anatomy, its reproductive cycle, the mode of formation of its skeleton and sclerites, the chemical composition of its skeleton and the origin of its red color, and finally its ecology. DOI: 10.57890/VIEMILIEU/2022.72.3/4:63-127
Keywords
Corallium rubrum, Cnidarian, Octocoral, Precious coral, Mediterranean, Skeletogenesis, Sclerite, Red color, Polyene, History of science
Citation Details
Life and Environment, pp. 63-127