Nexine coral
The popular name for lifeforms resembling coral native to the oceans of Nexine. They are noted for producing "gemores", valuable mineral concentrations that generally resemble russet-red pearls.
Nexine coral grows at a rate of five inches or more per year, drawing its building material directly from the mineralized waters of the planet's world-ocean.
Once the Nexine Mining Consortium began to study the mechanisms that produced gemores, it was found that Nexine coral was valuable in many ways. Among other potential uses, the coral is being considered for use on other worlds as a natural alternative to more destructive oceanic mining techniques. It is hoped that the coral will allow worlds to economically harvest minerals suspended in seawater, increasing commerce and industry on planets currently thought too expensive to develop. However, concern has been raised in many quarters that exported Nexine coral could overtake native corals and destroy the habitats of many oceans. Because of this, living coral has been declared a hazardous biological cargo, requiring strict quarantine procedures at all ports. Hopes are high, however, that Nexine coral might help bring life to biologically dead water-worlds, and as an aid to terraforming worlds where oceans are being created with cometary impacts.