Florida Keys NMS Resources

Coral Reefs	Seagrass Beds	Mangroves
Benthic Habitats of the Florida Keys	Submerged Cultural Resources	Shipwreck Trail

Draft R evised Species List for the FKNMS

Above you will find a .pdf document containing a draft revized list of species found in the terrestrial and marine habitats of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. This is a large list (appriximately 50 pages in length and is best printed in landscape view on 11 x 17 paper).
The initial species list was developed in 1994 from what we believed were the most knowledgeable sources at the time (see reference section in document). This is an evolving list. As research efforts continue to find more species within Sanctuary waters, the richness and completeness of this document is increased. For example, it is now thought that the Gastropods alone contribute over 1700 species to this list. Please send any comments or additions to this list to floridakeys@noaa.gov. Please include appropriate references for any additions or corrections.

Tiger Grouper in the Tortugas

The Florida reef tract is the most extensive living coral reef system in North American waters and the third largest system in the world. The largest barrier reef is Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the second largest is the Belizian barrier reef. All of these reefs are created by a community of organisms which produce calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Together these coral animals use their calcium carbonate to build an underwater city over the course of thousands of years.

Calcium carbonate is produced by many marine plants and animals, including some species of algae and many marine invertebrates. These organisms use the calcium carbonate as a skeleton, either internally similar to a human skeleton or externally such as a snail shell. In any case, these skeletons of calcium carbonate mesh to form a rigid, wave resistant structure called a reef. When the primary reef-building organisms are corals of the phylogenetic order Scleractinia and certain algal species, the reef is called a coral reef.

Colonies of tiny anemone-like polyps are the living coral tissue. Within the tissue of most reef-building corals live small organisms that are capable of photosynthesizing or changing light energy into food. These organisms are called zooxanthellae, pronounced zo-zan-thel-ee. Although corals are carnivorous and feed on zooplankton, they receive much of their energy and oxygen as byproducts of zooxanthellae photosynthesis. The zooxanthellae also promote the rate of calcium carbonate production by the coral colony, thus, promoting growth. The relationship between coral colonies and zooxanthellae is called symbiosis. This is a mutual relationship between species in which one or both benefit. Symbiotic relationships are common among organisms living on coral reefs.

Coral reefs can be found in waters surrounding land masses that fit within a narrow range of physical parameters. Generally, reef-building corals are restricted to the tropics, the area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees south latitude). Tropical waters are generally warm, clear, low in nutrients, and have a stable temperature and salinity. (The list below gives the range of physical parameters under which reef development has been observed.) Ocean currents can alter the physical characteristics of an area reducing or expanding the area where reefs may develop. The Florida Keys is one example in which the warm waters of the Gulf Stream expand the range of corals north of the tropics. Physical Requirements of Coral Reefs

Seargant Major on the Reef Line

High light - surface irradience of 2,000 uE /sq m /s
High oxygen - 5.0-7.0 milligrams per liter
Low turbidity - 0.01 - 0.10 milligrams per liter
Low nutrients - 0.01 - 0.10uM [Nitrogen or Phosphorus]
Stable temperature - 18 - 30 degrees Celsius
Stable open ocean salinity - 33 - 36 parts per thousand

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Seagrasses are flowering plants that live underwater. Like land plants, seagrasses produce oxygen. The depths at which seagrasses are found is limited by water clarity which determines the amount of light reaching the plant. Although seagrasses occur throughout the coastal waters of Florida, they are most abundant from Tarpon Springs northward to Alalachee Bay. Seagrasses also occur in protected bays and lagoons as well as along the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida's estimated 2.7 million acres of seagrass meadows are important natural resources that perform many significant functions including:

maintaining water clarity by trapping fine sediments and other particles in their leaves.
stabilizing the bottom with their roots and rhizomes in much the same way as land grasses retard soil erosion.
providing habitat for many fish, crustaceans, and shellfish.
providing food for many marine mammals in and of themselves as well as through the smaller organisms that live on their leaves.
and most importantly by providing a nursery area for much of Florida's recreationally and commercially important marine life.

Seagrass leaves provide excellent protection for young marine animals from larger open-water predators. Some animals, including manatees, eat the seagrass blades. Still others derive nutrition from eating algae and small animals which colonize the seagrass leaves. The colonizing organisms provide an additional link in the marine food chain.

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Mangroves are one of Florida's true natives. They thrive in salty environments because they are able to obtain freshwater from saltwater. Different species do this in a variety of ways. Some secrete excess salt through their leaves while other block absorption of salt at their roots.

Florida's estimated 496,000 acres of mangrove forests contribute to the overall health of the state's southern coastal zone. Mangroves trap and cycle various organic materials, chemical elements, and important nutrients throughout the larger ecosystem. Mangrove roots act not only as physical traps for sediments and other matter, but provide attachment surfaces for various marine organisms. Many of these attached organisms filter water through their bodies and, in turn, trap and cycle nutrients.

The relationship between mangroves and their associated marine life cannot be overemphasized. Mangroves provide protected nursery areas for fishes, crustaceans, and shellfish. They also provide food for a multitude of marine species such as snook, snapper, tarpon, jack, sheepshead, red drum, oyster, and shrimp. Florida's important recreational and commercial fisheries will decline without healthy mangrove forests to support them.

Many animals find shelter either in the roots or branches of mangroves. Mangrove branches are rookeries, or nesting areas, for beautiful coastal birds such as brown pelicans and roseate spoonbills.

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