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EveryFish

Reef or sea, Indonesia

The Coral Triangle

The seas of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands, richest in reef fish on Earth.

The Coral Triangle is the sea area joining Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands. It holds more kinds of coral and reef fish than anywhere else: about three quarters of known coral species and more than 2,000 species of reef fish. Raja Ampat, off western New Guinea, is often named as its richest corner, with record counts of fish species on single dives.

A centre of diversity

Scientists think the warm, shallow seas between Asia and Australia, broken into many islands and straits, have long acted as both a cradle and a refuge for reef life. The mandarinfish, the tiny pygmy seahorses, the Banggai cardinalfish of Sulawesi and the Indonesian coelacanth, found in 1997, all live here. The region's reefs feed more than a hundred million people who live along its coasts.

Threats and the initiative

Blast fishing, cyanide fishing for the live reef fish and aquarium trades, overfishing and coastal building damage many reefs. In 2009 the six countries launched the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security to manage the region's seas together. Raja Ampat's local communities and regency government have set up marine protected areas and banned shark and manta fishing.

Fish of The Coral Triangle

Indonesian coelacanthFound off Sulawesi in 1997

Still to be written: Synchiropus splendidus, Banggai cardinalfish, Hippocampus bargibanti, Humphead wrasse, Ocellaris clownfish.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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