Internet Colors - Set of 1035

9. Coral Color 212 - #FF7F50

Corals are marine invertebrates in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps." The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.

Formation of the calcareous exoskeleton involves deposition of the mineral aragonite by the polyps from calcium and carbonate ions they acquire from seawater. The rate of deposition, while varying greatly across species and environmental conditions, can reach 10 g/m² per day (0.3 ounce/sq yd/day). This is light dependent, with night-time production 90% lower than that during the middle of the day.