Gorgonin

Gorgonin is a flexible[1] scleroprotein[2][clarification needed] which provides structural strength to gorgonian corals, a subset of the order Alcyonacea.

[3] Gorgonin is diagenetically stable and is deposited in discrete annual growth rings in Primnoa resedaeformis, and possibly other species.

[6][7] The study of the chemistry of gorgonin, as a substance rather than a protein, was started by Balard in 1825, who reported on the occurrence of "iodogorgic acid".

[10] According to one 1939 paper, Valenciennes' discovery was followed by investigations by Krukenberg, Mendel, Morner, and others, which suggested the protein was a keratin, similar to those obtained from the ectoderm of "higher animals".

Studies of the growth, composition, and structure of the skeleton of certain species of gorgonians, (e.g., Primnoa resedaeformis, and Plexaurella dichotoma) can be highly correlated with seasonal and climatic variation.