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.[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

Arctic realm

(no provinces identified)

Temperate Northern Atlantic

Northern European Seas

Lusitanian
  • South European Atlantic Shelf
  • Saharan Upwelling
  • Azores Canaries Madeira

Mediterranean Sea

Black Sea

Cold Temperate Northwest Atlantic

Warm Temperate Northwest Atlantic
  • Carolinian
  • Northern Gulf of Mexico

Temperate Northern Pacific

Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific

Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific

Cold Temperate Northeast Pacific

Warm Temperate Northeast Pacific

Tropical Atlantic

Tropical Northwestern Atlantic

North Brazil Shelf

Tropical Southwestern Atlantic

St. Helena and Ascension Islands

West African Transition

Gulf of Guinea
  • Gulf of Guinea West
  • Gulf of Guinea Upwelling
  • Gulf of Guinea Central
  • Gulf of Guinea Islands
  • Gulf of Guinea South
  • Angolan

Western Indo-Pacific

Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Somali/Arabian

Western Indian Ocean

West and South Indian Shelf
  • Western India
  • South India and Sri Lanka

Central Indian Ocean Islands

Bay of Bengal
  • Eastern India
  • Northern Bay of Bengal

Andaman Sea

Central Indo-Pacific

South China Sea

Sunda Shelf

Java Transitional
  • Southern Java
  • Cocos-Keeling/Christmas Island

South Kuroshio
  • South Kuroshio

Tropical Northwestern Pacific

Western Coral Triangle

Eastern Coral Triangle

Sahul Shelf

Northeast Australian Shelf

Northwest Australian Shelf

Tropical Southwestern Pacific

Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands
  • Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands

Eastern Indo-Pacific

Hawaii

Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice Islands

Central Polynesia

Southeast Polynesia

Marquesas

Easter Island

Tropical Eastern Pacific

Tropical East Pacific

Galapagos
  • Northern Galapagos Islands
  • Eastern Galapagos Islands
  • Western Galapagos Islands

Temperate South America

Warm Temperate Southeastern Pacific

Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas
  • Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas

Warm Temperate Southwestern Atlantic

Magellanic

Tristan-Gough

Temperate Southern Africa

Benguela
  • Namib
  • Namaqua

Agulhas

Amsterdam-St Paul

Temperate Australasia

Northern New Zealand
  • Kermadec Islands (195)
  • Northeastern New Zealand (196)
  • Three Kings-North Cape (197)

Southern New Zealand

East Central Australian Shelf

Southeast Australian Shelf

Southwest Australian Shelf

Western Central Australian Shelf

Southern Ocean

Subantarctic Islands

Scotia Sea

Continental High Antarctic

Subantarctic New Zealand

See also

Notes
  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
  • 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.
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