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Concept
Coastal fish
Summary
Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with oceanic fish or offshore fish, which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves.
Coastal fish are the most abundant in the world. They can be found in tidal pools, fjords and estuaries, near sandy shores and rocky coastlines, around coral reefs and on or above the continental shelf. Coastal fish include forage fish and the predator fish that feed on them. Forage fish thrive in inshore waters where high productivity results from upwelling and shoreline run off of nutrients. Some are partial residents that spawn in streams, estuaries and bays, but most complete their life cycles in the zone.
Coastal fish are found in the waters above the continental shelves that extend from the continental shorelines, and around the coral reefs that surround volcanic islands. The total world shoreline extends for and the continental shelves occupy a total area of 24.3 million km2 (9 376 million sq mi). This is nearly 5% of the world's total area of 510 million km2.
Nearshore fish, sometimes called littoral fish, live close to the shore. They are associated with the intertidal zone, or with estuaries, lagoons, coral reefs, kelp forests, seagrass meadows, or rocky or sandy bottoms, usually in shallow waters less than about deep.
intertidal ecology and tidal pool
Intertidal fish are fish that move in and out with the tide in the intertidal zone of the seashore, or are found in rock pools or under rocks.
The intertidal zone of rocky shores can contain indentations which trap pools of salty water, called rock pools. Living in these habitats are communities of hardy plant and animal species specially adapted for coping with the volatile environment around them.
Official source
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