List of marine ecoregions

The following is a list of marine ecoregions, as defined by the WWF and The Nature Conservancy

The WWF/Nature Conservancy scheme groups the individual ecoregions into 12 marine realms, which represent the broad latitudinal divisions of polar, temperate, and tropical seas, with subdivisions based on ocean basins. The marine realms are subdivided into 62 marine provinces, which include one or more of the 232 marine ecoregions.

The WWF/Nature Conservancy scheme currently encompasses only coastal and continental shelf areas.[a][b]

Arctic realm[edit]

(no provinces identified)

Temperate Northern Atlantic[edit]

Northern European Seas[edit]

Lusitanian[edit]

Mediterranean Sea[edit]

Black Sea[edit]

Cold Temperate Northwest Atlantic[edit]

Warm Temperate Northwest Atlantic[edit]

Temperate Northern Pacific[edit]

Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific[edit]

Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific[edit]

Cold Temperate Northeast Pacific[edit]

Warm Temperate Northeast Pacific[edit]

Tropical Atlantic[edit]

Tropical Northwestern Atlantic[edit]

North Brazil Shelf[edit]

Tropical Southwestern Atlantic[edit]

St. Helena and Ascension Islands[edit]

West African Transition[edit]

Gulf of Guinea[edit]

Western Indo-Pacific[edit]

Red Sea and Gulf of Aden[edit]

Somali/Arabian[edit]

Western Indian Ocean[edit]

West and South Indian Shelf[edit]

Central Indian Ocean Islands[edit]

Bay of Bengal[edit]

Andaman Sea[edit]

Central Indo-Pacific[edit]

South China Sea[edit]

Sunda Shelf[edit]

Java Transitional[edit]

  • Southern Java
  • Cocos-Keeling/Christmas Island

South Kuroshio[edit]

  • South Kuroshio

Tropical Northwestern Pacific[edit]

Western Coral Triangle[edit]

Eastern Coral Triangle[edit]

Sahul Shelf[edit]

Northeast Australian Shelf[edit]

Northwest Australian Shelf[edit]

Tropical Southwestern Pacific[edit]

Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands[edit]

  • Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands

Eastern Indo-Pacific[edit]

Hawaii[edit]

Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice Islands[edit]

Central Polynesia[edit]

Southeast Polynesia[edit]

Marquesas[edit]

Easter Island[edit]

Tropical Eastern Pacific[edit]

Tropical East Pacific[edit]

Galapagos[edit]

Temperate South America[edit]

Warm Temperate Southeastern Pacific[edit]

Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas[edit]

Warm Temperate Southwestern Atlantic[edit]

Magellanic[edit]

Tristan-Gough[edit]

Temperate Southern Africa[edit]

Benguela[edit]

  • Namib
  • Namaqua

Agulhas[edit]

Amsterdam-St Paul[edit]

Temperate Australasia[edit]

Northern New Zealand[edit]

Southern New Zealand[edit]

East Central Australian Shelf[edit]

Southeast Australian Shelf[edit]

Southwest Australian Shelf[edit]

Western Central Australian Shelf[edit]

Southern Ocean[edit]

Subantarctic Islands[edit]

Scotia Sea[edit]

Continental High Antarctic[edit]

Subantarctic New Zealand[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ One classification of the deep oceans is PPOW:
    Spalding, Mark D.; Agostini, Vera N.; Rice, Jake; Grant, Susie M. (2012). "Pelagic provinces of the world: A biogeographic classification of the world's surface pelagic waters". Ocean & Coastal Management. 60: 19–30. Bibcode:2012OCM....60...19S. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2011.12.016. Paid subscription required
  2. ^ Ocean-floor environments are examined in Watling, et al. 2013:
    Watling, Les; Guinotte, John; Clark, Malcolm R.; Smith, Craig R. (April 2013). "A proposed biogeography of the deep ocean floor" (PDF). Progress in Oceanography. 111: 91–112. Bibcode:2013PrOce.111...91W. doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2012.11.003.

References[edit]

  • Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–583.

External links[edit]