What is the typical life span of a coral polyp?

1nn1

Coral polyps are very soft-bodied organisms related to jellyfish. They have a protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs. Reefs begin when a polyp sticks to a rock on the sea bed, then buds, into thousands of clones. The polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that acts as a single organism. As colonies grow over hundreds and thousands of years, they join with other colonies and become reefs. Some of the coral reefs on the planet today began growing over 50 million years ago. To answer the question properly, a polyp's lifespan is 2 years to hundreds of years; a colony, 5 years to several centuries http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/invertebrates/coral/ Nov 14 12, 3:44 AM

euab

Life Span: Estimated average age for an individual coral polyp is around 2-3 years. Individual colonies are estimated to live for several decades (perhaps centuries). However, entire coral reefs persist and grow for thousands of years. http://www.mysticaquarium.org/animals-and-exhibits/species-of-the-month/938-coral Nov 14 12, 8:38 AM