Neritic zone - wikipedia Neritic zone Marine habitats Sargassum seaweed drifting in the neritic zone provides food and shelter for small epipelagic fish. Littoral zone Intertidal zone Estuaries Kelp forests Coral reefs Ocean banks Continental shelf Neritic zone Straits Pelagic zone Oceanic zone Seamounts Hydrothermal vents Cold seeps Demersal zone Benthic zone The neritic zone is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop - off of the continental shelf, approximately 200 meters ( 660 ft ) in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well - illuminated environment for marine life, from plankton up to large fish and corals, while physical oceanography sees it as where the oceanic system interacts with the coast. Contents 1 Definition ( marine biology ), context, extra terminology 2 Physical characteristics 3 Life forms 4 Definition ( physical oceanography ) 5 See also 6 References Definition ( marine biology ), context, extra terminology In marine biology, the neritic zone, also called coastal waters, the coastal ocean or the sublittoral zone, refers to that zone of the ocean where sunlight reaches the ocean floor, that is, where the water is never so deep as to take it out of the photic zone. It extends from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf, with a relatively shallow depth extending to about 200 meters ( 667 feet ). Above the neritic zone lie the intertidal ( or eulittoral ) and supralittoral zones ; below it the continental slope begins, descending from the continental shelf to the abyssal plain and the pelagic zone. Within the neritic, marine biologists also identify the following : The infralittoral zone is the algal dominated zone to maybe five metres below the low water mark. The circalittoral zone is the region beyond the infralittoral, which is dominated by sessile animals such as oysters. The subtidal zone is the region of the neritic zone which is below the intertidal zone, therefore never exposed to the atmosphere. Physical characteristics The neritic zone is permanently covered with generally well - oxygenated water, receives plenty of sunlight and has low water pressure ; moreover, it has relatively stable temperature, pressure, light and salinity levels, making it suitable for photosynthetic life. In particular, the benthic zone ( shallow ocean floor ) in the neritic is much more stable than in the intertidal zone. Life forms The above characteristics make the neritic zone the location of the majority of sea life : they result in high primary production by photosynthetic life such as phytoplankton and floating sargassum ; zooplankton, free - floating creatures ranging from microscopic foraminiferans to small fish and shrimp, feed on the phytoplankton ( and one another ) ; both trophic levels in turn form the base of the food chain ( or, more properly, web ) that supports most of the world 's great wild fisheries. Corals are also mostly found in the neritic zone, where they are more common than in the intertidal zone as they have less change to deal with. Definition ( physical oceanography ) In physical oceanography, the sublittoral zone refers to coastal regions with significant tidal flows and energy dissipation, including non-linear flows, internal waves, river outflows and ocean fronts. As in marine biology, this zone typically extends to the edge of the continental shelf. See also Coastal fish References Jump up ^ anon. ( n.d ). Ocean Regions : Blue Water - Characteristics. Available : http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/regions/bluewater1.htm. Last accessed 15 May 2014. Jump up ^ Rizk, F. ( n.d ). MARINE ENVIRONMENT AND PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY. Available : http://faculty.scf.edu/rizkf/OCE1001/OCEnotes/chap11.htm. Last accessed 15 May 2014. Jump up ^ `` Advanced Learner S Dictionary Botany ''. Retrieved 10 February 2016. Jump up ^ Office of Naval Research Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neritic_zone&oldid=777686054 '' Categories : Aquatic ecology Fisheries Physical oceanography Aquatic biomes Oceanographical terminology Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from May 2015 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from January 2014 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Български Català Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Français Gaeilge Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Polski Português Română Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 28 April 2017, at 17 : 30. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what is the drop off in the ocean
Answer: continental slope