Mexico's Pacific coast has several fringing and patch reefs; however, biodiversity at the Pacific reef sites is lower than at other Mexican reef sites due to cooler temperatures. Because they are tolerant of low temperatures, encrusting and plate corals are common in Mexico's Pacific coast waters, and up to 18 species of hard corals have been recorded in the area. Other common ocean life found off Mexico's Pacific coast includes mollusks, reef fishes and sponges. Whales also frequent the waters of Mexico's Pacific coast.
According to ReefBase, the Gulf of Mexico has atoll and patch reefs concentrated along the edge of the continental shelf near Veracruz and on the Campeche Bank. Sea life in the Gulf of Mexico includes approximately 45 species of corals such as millepora, gorgonians, acropora, plate corals, favia and scolymia. Invertebrates living in Mexico's Gulf coast waters include sponges; shrimp; lobsters; and blue, stone and fiddler crabs. Vertebrates include five species of sea turtles, flounder, mullet, eels and snappers.
Some of Mexico's most diverse sea life can be found in the waters off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula with 56 species of hard corals recorded in recent years. Akumal is located on the Yucatan Peninsula, and the reef fishes recorded in surrounding waters include schooling grunts, damselfishes, anemonefishes, surgeonfishes, parrotfishes and sea basses as well as sea turtles and large carnivores such as sharks. The area is also especially rich in sponge species. Other common invertebrates off the coast of the Yucatan include gorgonians, mollusks, anemones and zooanthids.
Threats to the sea life in Mexico include natural and man-made environmental threats. In the Gulf of Mexico, overfishing and oil exploration threaten ocean ecosystems. Tourism also puts pressure on marine life. According to ReefBase, natural threats to sea life include "tropical storms and hurricanes as well as biological threats, such as the death of sea urchins, coral bleaching mortality and diseases, algal overgrowth, and fish mortality." The United States Central Intelligence Agency cites the country's lack of waste disposal and treatment facilities as a major contributor to water pollution off the coasts of Mexico. Deforestation in Mexico also causes soil and other sediments to cloud coastal waters and block sun from corals and other photosynthesis-dependent sea life.
The establishment of protected areas along Mexico's coastal waters helps to counteract the threats to the sea and ocean life in Mexico. Some of the most diverse and abundant populations of sea life in Mexico can thrive in the country's protected coastal areas. Protected areas on Mexico's Pacific coast include Bahia de Loreto, Fondo Cabo San Lucas, Cabo Pulmo, Los Arcos, and Archipiélago de Revillagigedo. Protected areas on Mexico's Gulf coast include Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano, La Blanquilla, and Arrecife Alacranes. Yucatan Peninsula protected areas include Isla Contoy, Costa Occidentel de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún y Punta Nizuc, Arrecifes de Puerto Morelos, Arrecifes de Cozumel, Arrecifes de Sian Ka'an, Xcalak, and Banco Chinchorro.
