Mesophotic coral reef

A Mesophotic coral reef, from meso meaning middle and photic meaning light, is characterised by the presence of both light dependent coral and algae, and organisms that can be found in water with low light penetration. They normally grow between 30 to 40 metres (130 ft) and up to 150 metres (490 ft) in tropical and subtropical water. The most common species at the mesophotic level are corals, sponges and algae. The corals ranges can overlap with Deep-water coral but are distinguished by the presence of zooxanthellae and their requirement for light. They can also be thought of as part of shallow water coral ecosystems, and a crossover of coral species between the two is common. It is thought that these corals could be used as sources for reseeding shallow water coral species. The oldest known mesophotic coral ecosystems have been described from the Silurian of Sweden, such ecosystems are also known from Devonian . Oldest scleractinian-dominated mesophotic ecosystems are known from the Triassic A Mesophotic coral reef, from meso meaning middle and photic meaning light, is characterised by the presence of both light dependent coral and algae, and organisms that can be found in water with low light penetration. They normally grow between 30 to 40 metres (130 ft) and up to 150 metres (490 ft) in tropical and subtropical water. The most common species at the mesophotic level are corals, sponges and algae. The corals ranges can overlap with Deep-water coral but are distinguished by the presence of zooxanthellae and their requirement for light. They can also be thought of as part of shallow water coral ecosystems, and a crossover of coral species between the two is common. It is thought that these corals could be used as sources for reseeding shallow water coral species. The oldest known mesophotic coral ecosystems have been described from the Silurian of Sweden, such ecosystems are also known from Devonian . Oldest scleractinian-dominated mesophotic ecosystems are known from the Triassic