Belize Barrier Reef

The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs.  It goes along the coast of Belize, about  offshore in the north and  in the south. The Belize Barrier Reef is a  long section of the  long Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System.  The reef system runs continuous from Cancún on the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya down to Honduras.  This makes it one of the largest coral reef systems in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef. 

Charles Darwin described it as "the most remarkable reef in the West Indies" in 1842.Darwin, Charles 1842. The structure and distribution of coral reefs. London: Murray.

Species
The Belize Barrier Reef is home to many different plants and animals. There are:
70 hard coral species
36 soft coral species
500 species of fish
hundreds of invertebrate species
About 90% of the reef still needs to be researched.  It is thought that only 10% of all species have been discovered.Belize Barrier Reef Case Study . Westminster.edu. Retrieved on 2011-10-21.

References

Category:Geography of Belize
Category:World Heritage Sites in South America
Category:Reefs