Gorgonin

Gorgonin is a flexible scleroprotein which provides structural strength to gorgonian corals, a subset of the order Alcyonacea. Gorgonian corals have supporting skeletal axes made of gorgonin and/or calcite. Gorgonin makes up the joints of bamboo corals in the deep sea, and forms the central internal skeleton of sea fans. It frequently contains appreciable quantities of bromine, iodine, and tyrosine.

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

Scientific use
Research has shown that measurements of the gorgonin and calcite within species of gorgonian corals can be useful in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. 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.