Fascinating red organ-pipe coral Taxidermy full body mount - Tubipora musica - 28 cm - 28 cm - 16 cm - 1

Tubipora musica is an octocoral native to the waters of the Indian Ocean and the central and western regions of the Pacific Ocean, the only known species in the genus Tubipora. This species is a soft coral but with a unique hard skeleton of calcium carbonate that contains many tube-like structures resembling organ pipes, hence its common name Red Organ Pipe Coral. On each tube is a series of polyps, each with eight feathery tentacles. These tentacles are usually extended during the day, but retreat quickly at any disturbance. The skeleton is bright red, but is typically obscured by the numerous polyps. For this reason, living colonies are typically green, blue, or purple due to the color of the extended polyps. When the coral reaches the surface, the polyp tentacles fall away revealing Tubipora in all its splendid red. Splendid lot: this tubipora clearly has a shape reminiscent of a human heart and posterior calcification like an artery. An extremely evocative object, an object absolutely worth winning. Pedestal not included, made from recycled material and used for photographic purposes only. A necessary clarification. The final image in our photographic gallery is produced with the help of AI software. The purpose is purely aesthetic but also demonstrative: it shows the real object within an artificially generated scenography. The aim is to show how precious the auction items are and how well they fare in different, highly refined environments. Thank you for your attention. Happy bidding.