Which marine biodiversity hotspot, encompassing the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, contains over 75% of all known coral species?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. The Coral Triangle

  1. Step 1: Often celebrated as the marine equivalent of the Amazon rainforest, this roughly triangular marine expanse covers nearly 6 million square kilometers.
  2. Step 2: The Coral Triangle hosts over 600 species of reef-building stony corals (76% of the world total) and more than 3,000 species of reef fish, representing the global epicenter of marine biological diversity.
Answer
The Coral Triangle
Why not the others: 'The Great Barrier Reef' The Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia, is the largest single continuous reef system, but contains fewer total coral species than the Coral Triangle; 'The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef' The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef spans the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras; 'The Red Sea Reef' The Red Sea contains resilient high-temperature coral ecosystems, but has lower total species richness than the Coral Triangle.

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