Is Coral Okay For A Vegan Stardew Valley Run?

The conclusion of this post is it depends on how you look at it. If you are doing a strict vegan run, which includes not having any animals either then no you would not have coral. But if you are doing a more passive vegan run, for example, the only animal I have is a sheep because it does not produce animal-related food and I take care of them. So if you are not doing a strict run it is fine for the few facts that you do not need to fish for coral, they are the only thing you put in a pond that does not produce animal-related products, and you are taking care of them similar to the thought of the sheep. And to get the pond you can forge seaweed on the beach and get slime from mob drops. This post is overthinking the strict vegan route, which in conclusion it is not allowed it is still a living thing. 

This research is for a video game that I am trying to do a vegan run.

Why using coral is okay while being vegan. First off this is a game. Yes, I am thinking too much into it but oh well, the research has been done.

By definition, coral is an animal. But I did some research. First, what is the definition of animals?

"a living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli."

Now let's look at the coral. The first part of this definition applies to plants as well so we will ignore that. "To a gardener, organic matter is something with organic compounds that you add to the soil as an amendment. In simple terms, it is a decaying plant or animal material. This most commonly includes compost, green manure, leaf mold, and animal manure" meaning when you fertilize plants use organic matter.

Coral does not have organs as stated here.

"Corals exist at the tissue level: they do not have organs, such as a heart. ... Coral are simple animals in the same phylum as jellyfish. Each coral animal consists of an individual sac-like body called a polyp."

so they do not have organs, next is nerves, yes coral has nerves, as stated here.

"Coral Reefs have a nerve set called a simple nervous system. This nerve set spreads from the mouth of the coral to the tentacles. This is a sense that coral polyps have that is similar to our sense of smell and taste."

But I also looked up to see if they feel pain. And they are sure they do not. as stated here.

"coral's primitive nervous system almost certainly can't feel pain"

Last is to respond to stimuli. Which they do.

"and are able to respond to stimuli"

So according to all these sources, they have a response and nerves but feel nothing and do not have a heart, organs, or a face. Which to me doesn't sound like an animal but a plant that? Especially if you include this.

"Even though plants don't have nervous systems, they can respond to stimuli"

So that means the nerves are the only thing separating coral from a plant.

I also want to note the way you obtain coral in this game is forging while on the beach. the coral is not in water. Meaning it might already be dead. And in the game's wiki, it is not called a fish, which is weird because you can put it in a fishing pond, unlike clam which is stated as a fish but is not considered a fish. 

Meaning while you find it, you are not pulling it from its home, it feels nothing. You are putting it in a pond where it doesn't request anything (like everything else you put in a pond. And grows more. I feel like considering all this information. Using coral on a vegan farm of this game is okay.