This article is about a specific type of environment within the marine ecosystem. For the broader concept with all interactions and characteristics of the marine environment, see marine ecosystem.
Coral reefs provide marine habitats for tube sponges, which in turn become marine habitats for fishes
Marine habitats
Coastal habitats
Littoral zone
Intertidal zone
Estuaries
Mangrove forests
Seagrass meadows
Kelp forests
Coral reefs
Continental shelf
Neritic zone
Ocean surface
Surface microlayer
Epipelagic zone
Open ocean
Pelagic zone
Oceanic zone
Sea floor
Seamounts
Hydrothermal vents
Cold seeps
Demersal zone
Benthic zone
Marine sediment
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A marine habitat is a habitat that supports marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term marine comes from the Latin mare, meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one or more living species.[1] The marine environment supports many kinds of these habitats.
Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean habitats. Coastal habitats are found in the area that extends from as far as the tide comes in on the shoreline out to the edge of the continental shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal habitats, even though the shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean habitats are found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf.
Alternatively, marine habitats can be divided into pelagic and demersal zones. Pelagic habitats are found near the surface or in the open water column, away from the bottom of the ocean. Demersal habitats are near or on the bottom of the ocean. An organism living in a pelagic habitat is said to be a pelagic organism, as in pelagic fish. Similarly, an organism living in a demersal habitat is said to be a demersal organism, as in demersal fish. Pelagic habitats are intrinsically shifting and ephemeral, depending on what ocean currents are doing.
Marine habitats can be modified by their inhabitants. Some marine organisms, like corals, kelp, mangroves and seagrasses, are ecosystem engineers which reshape the marine environment to the point where they create further habitat for other organisms. By volume the ocean provides most of the habitable space on the planet.[2]
^Abercrombie, M., Hickman, C.J. and Johnson, M.L. 1966.A Dictionary of Biology. Penguin Reference Books, London
^Living Ocean NASA Science. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
A marinehabitat is a habitat that supports marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term marine comes from...
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, Hoss, D.E. and Cross, F.A. (1991) Utilization of the Sargassum habitat by marine invertebrates and vertebrates, a review. NOAA Technical Memorandum...
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