Marine region in Central America
The
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System
(MBRS), also popularly known as the
Great Mayan Reef
or
Great Maya Reef
, is a marine region that stretches over 1,126 kilometres (700 mi) along the coasts of four countries ?
Mexico
,
Belize
,
Guatemala
, and
Honduras
? from
Isla Contoy
at the northern tip of the
Yucatan Peninsula
south to Belize, Guatemala and the
Bay Islands
of Honduras. The reef system includes various protected areas and parks including the
Belize Barrier Reef
,
Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park
,
Hol Chan Marine Reserve
(Belize),
Sian Ka'an
biosphere reserve
, and the
Cayos Cochinos Marine Park
. Belize's coastline, including the Belize Barrier Reef, is home to approximately 30% of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System.
It begins near
Isla Contoy
on the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and continues south alongside the
Riviera Maya
including areas like
Cozumel
and
Banco Chinchorro
. It then continues south along the eastern coast of Belize including many
cayes
and
atolls
. It extends to the north-east corner of Honduras. It is the largest barrier reef in the
Western Hemisphere
.
[1]
Biodiversity
[
edit
]
The reef system is home to more than 65 species of
stony coral
, 350 species of
mollusk
and more than 500 species of
fish
.
[2]
[3]
There are numerous species that live in or around the reef system that are endangered or under some degree of protection, including the following:
sea turtles
(
green sea turtle
,
loggerhead sea turtle
,
leatherback turtle
, and the
hawksbill turtle
), the
queen conch
, the
West Indian manatee
, the
splendid toadfish
, the
American crocodile
, the
Morelet's crocodile
, the
Nassau grouper
,
elkhorn coral
, and
black coral
.
The reef system is suffering an invasion by the
red lionfish
(
Pterois volitans
and
Pterois miles
), which is native to the Indo-Pacific region. Lionfish severely damage the reef ecosystem by eating nearly every reef-tending species, such as
cleaner shrimp
and other species that eat algae. These animals keep the corals clean, alive, and disease-free. Lionfish eat up to 90% of the reef-tending species in a given area within just a few months, which can result in a quick death for a reef. Valuable commercial species, such as
lobster
, are being negatively affected by the spread of the lionfish due to their enormous appetite.
[4]
The reef system is home to one of the world's largest populations of manatees, with an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 of them.
[3]
Some northern areas of the reef system near Isla Contoy are home to the largest fish on the planet, the
whale shark
.
[3]
The normally solitary whale sharks congregate there in social groups to eat and to mate.
Conservation
[
edit
]
The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is considered
critically endangered
according to the criteria of the
IUCN Red List of Ecosystems
.
[5]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Mesoamerican Reef"
.
World Wildlife Fund
. Retrieved
April 11,
2024
.
- ^
"Mesoamerican Reef"
. Missionblue. Archived from
the original
on 2010-04-12
. Retrieved
2010-04-11
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Mesoamerican Reef: Species"
.
World Wildlife Fund
. Retrieved
2010-04-11
.
- ^
Albins, Ma; Hixon, Ma (2008-09-11).
"Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans reduce recruitment of Atlantic coral-reef fishes"
.
Marine Ecology Progress Series
.
367
: 233?238.
Bibcode
:
2008MEPS..367..233A
.
doi
:
10.3354/meps07620
.
hdl
:
1834/5350
.
ISSN
0171-8630
.
- ^
Bland, L.; Regan, T.; Ngoc Dinh, M.; Ferrari, R.; Keith, D.; Lester, R.; Mouillot, D.; Murray, N.; Anh Nguyen, H.; Nicholson, E. (2017).
"Meso-American Reef: Using multiple lines of evidence to assess the risk of ecosystem collapse"
.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
.
284
(1863): 20170660.
doi
:
10.1098/rspb.2017.0660
.
PMC
5627190
.
PMID
28931744
. Retrieved
9 September
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]