{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Taxon",
  "slug": "coral",
  "name": "Coral",
  "scientificName": "Anthozoa",
  "category": "Invertebrate",
  "summary": "Corals are tiny colonial animals of the class Anthozoa that build the vast limestone structures we call reefs. Each coral is a colony of soft-bodied polyps, only millimetres wide, that secrete a hard calcium-carbonate skeleton and live fixed in place in warm, shallow tropical seas. Reef-building corals depend on symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae for most of their food and colour, and colonies can survive for decades to centuries.",
  "conservationStatus": "Least Concern",
  "taxonomy": {
    "kingdom": "Animalia",
    "phylum": "Cnidaria",
    "class": "Anthozoa",
    "order": null,
    "family": null,
    "genus": null
  },
  "stats": {
    "weightKg": 1,
    "lengthM": 0.3,
    "topSpeedKmh": 0,
    "lifespanYears": 100
  },
  "facts": [
    {
      "label": "Scientific name",
      "value": "Anthozoa (class)"
    },
    {
      "label": "Diet",
      "value": "Filter feeder plus algae symbionts"
    },
    {
      "label": "Habitat",
      "value": "Warm, shallow tropical seas worldwide"
    },
    {
      "label": "Lifespan",
      "value": "Colonies can live decades to centuries"
    },
    {
      "label": "Size",
      "value": "Polyps mm-wide; colonies and reefs vast"
    },
    {
      "label": "Top speed",
      "value": "None; corals are fixed in place"
    },
    {
      "label": "Conservation status",
      "value": "Varies by species"
    }
  ],
  "range": {
    "nativeRange": "Warm, shallow tropical seas worldwide, with the greatest diversity in the Indo-Pacific.",
    "continents": [
      "Oceans"
    ]
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "citation": "IUCN Red List — Anthozoa.",
      "url": "https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=Anthozoa&searchType=species"
    },
    {
      "citation": "Wikipedia — Coral.",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthozoa"
    }
  ],
  "lastReviewed": "2026-07-16",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/coral/",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
    "attribution": "Global Animal Guide — https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/coral/",
    "note": "Free to reuse for non-commercial purposes with attribution and a link back to the canonical page."
  }
}