East African Coral Reef Food Web
Coral Reef
Western Indian Ocean — Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique
Description
The coral reefs off the coasts of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique support diverse Indo-Pacific marine communities and artisanal fisheries feeding coastal populations. Coelacanths, thought extinct for 65 million years, were rediscovered in these waters. Mangrove-seagrass-reef connectivity maintains fish recruitment across the western Indian Ocean.
Trophic Pyramid
Level 5
Decomposers
Holothurians
Reef bacteria
Burrowing shrimp
3 species
Level 4
Tertiary Consumers
Giant trevally
Bull shark
Green turtle (adults)
3 species
Level 3
Secondary Consumers
Emperor angelfish
Blue-spotted stingray
Octopus
3 species
Level 2
Primary Consumers
Rabbitfish
Green turtle
Collector urchin
3 species
Level 1
Producers
Porites corals
Seagrass beds
Macroalgae
3 species
Apex Predators
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Key Interactions
- Mangrove nurseries export juvenile fish to adjacent seagrass and coral reef habitats
- Rabbitfish grazing on macroalgae helps maintain coral dominance on reefs
- Coelacanths occupy deep caves and feed on small fish using slow ambush tactics
- Artisanal fishing pressure selectively removes large predatory fish from reef food webs