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 30-40 m, and up to 150 m 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.