[1] Other Corallium species are native to the western Pacific, notably around Japan and Taiwan;[2] these occur at depths of 350 to 1500 meters below sea level in areas with strong currents.

Their valuable skeleton is composed of intermeshed spicules of hard calcium carbonate, colored in shades of red by carotenoid pigments.

[1] In living specimens, the skeletal branches are overlaid with soft bright red integument, from which numerous retractable white polyps protrude.

[7] At the beginning of the 1st millennium, there was significant trade in coral between the Mediterranean and India, where it was highly prized as a substance believed to be endowed with mysterious sacred properties.

The belief in coral's potency as a charm continued throughout the Middle Ages and early in 20th century Italy it was worn as a protection from the evil eye, and by women as a cure for infertility.

From the Middle Ages onward, the securing of the right to the coral fisheries off the African coasts was the object of considerable rivalry among the Mediterranean communities of Europe.

The story of the Torre del Greco is so interwoven with that of the coral so as to constitute an inseparable pair, and is documented as early as the fifteenth century.

[citation needed] Other story instead a short period the Tunisian fisheries were secured by Charles V for Spain; but the monopoly soon fell into the hands of the French, who held the right until the Revolutionary government in 1793 threw the trade open.

The Romans believed coral could protect children from harm, as well as cure wounds made by snakes and scorpions and diagnose diseases by changing colour.