Mangrove
Salt-tolerant trees of tropical coasts whose tangled roots shelter young fish, crabs and prawns.
Also: mangrove forest
Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in salty, tidal mud along tropical and subtropical coasts. Their arching roots slow the water, trap mud and give shelter from predators, so mangroves serve as nurseries for many fish that later live on reefs or offshore. Mudskippers, archerfish, scats and gobies live among them. The Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh, on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, is the largest mangrove forest in the world. Clearing mangroves for shrimp farms and building has cut fish catches in many places.