Size:
N/A
Habitat type:
Tropical Coral
Geographic Location:
Southwestern Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique
Conservation Status:
Relatively intact
Marine Ecoregion
Did you know?
Compared to many coral reefs, the ones around Madagascar are quite young. The most recent one formed "only" about 10,000 years ago.
About the Area
Quiet lagoons, submerged reefs and islands, fringing reefs, and one of the world's few double barrier reefs are found here.
One of the barrier reefs is 124 miles (200 km) long. These different habitats are home to numerous species, including more than 200 corals, 400 mollusks, and 550 fish.
The very rare "living fossil fish," the coelacanth (Lahimeria chalumnae), is found here.
Local Species
Fish include the silvertip shark (Carcharinus albimarginatus) and the threatened kei goby (Oligdepis keimsis).
More familiar to many people are the two breeding species of turtles: hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and green (Chelonia mydas). Other sea turtle species are occasionally observed, including the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea).
An outstanding diversity and quantity of cetaceans are found including sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), breeding humpback whale (Megaptera novaengliae), spectacled porpoise (Australophaena dioptrica), Burmeister’s porpoise (Phoceona spinipinnis), dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus), Andrew’s (Mesoplodon bowdoini) and Blainville’s (M. densirostris) beaked whales.
The dugong (Dugong dugon) is also found in these waters, but are rare due to overhunting
Threats
- Livestock grazing, deforestation, construction, destruction of sandbars, and poor agricultural practices result in the runoff of sediments that harm the coral reefs in this ecoregion.
- DDT and other pesticides, oil, and raw sewage contaminate the water.
- Coral is mined for cement, and both coral and shells are taken to sell to collectors.
- Overfishing and destructive fishing practices are serious concerns.
- Nearby Comoros and Seychelle's reefs suffered greatly during a 1998 coral bleaching episode.
An outstanding region
- The world’s third largest barrier reef complex buffering the western coast of Madagascar from the Mozambique Current
- Among the world’s largest seagrass beds and shallow banks in the Mascarene Arc and among the world’s most intensively fished oceanic sites.
- The only oceanic islands with a granitic continental core that are fringed with an ancient and distinctive reef fauna
- A hotspot for coral reef fish and invertebrate endemism in the region, with a particularly focus of local endemism (found nowhere else) in the Mascarenes
- Some of the healthiest populations of blue, humpback, and sperm whales on the planet
- Globally outstanding aggregations of seabirds and marine turtles on feeding grounds and islands
- An extraordinarily productive seamount north of the Seychelles and one of the largest sources of tuna fishes in the world.
- Highly productive upwelling phenomena driven by monsoon upwellings in the Somalian Current and gyres in the Mozambique Channel
- A relatively intact population and migration of diadromous eels (return to freshwater to spawn)
- Populations of several species of marine turtles, presence of dugongs, and coelacanths and Humphead wrasses.
