From crabs to octopuses, clams to marine worms, invertebrates play a significant role in ocean ecosystems. Many are important prey for fish, marine mammals, and humans. Others, such as corals and oysters, create essential habitat for marine species.
NOAA Fisheries is responsible for the sustainable management of many species of invertebrates—including white shrimp, Alaska snow crab, and Quahog clam—commonly harvested for human consumption. We are also responsible for protecting invertebrate species listed under the Endangered Species Act such as white abalone and elkhorn coral.
Invertebrates are the most diverse group of animals in the ocean. Some common marine invertebrates include mollusks, crustaceans, and corals.
Mollusks are a category of invertebrates with over 50,000 known species. They are soft-bodied animals that may have a hard external shell (formed by secreting calcium carbonate), a hard internal shell, or no shell at all. Mollusks include abalone, conch, oysters, and clams, as well as octopus and squid.
Crustaceans are a subcategory of invertebrates closely related to insects and spiders. They typically have a body covered with a hard shell or crust. Crustaceans include shrimp, krill, lobsters, and crabs.
Corals are known as colonial organisms because many individual creatures live and grow while connected to each other. The tiny, individual organisms that make up large coral colonies are called coral polyps. Stony, shallow-water corals—the kind that build reef habitat—are one type of coral. There are also soft corals and deep sea corals that live in dark, cold waters.
Species News
The research vessel Norseman II pushes carefully through the ice, maneuvering for open water. Credit: Gavin M Brady/NOAA Fisheries.
Shallow water provides habitat for branching corals (Acropora spp), as seen here on a reef flat in Guam. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jonathan Brown
A scientist carefully hovers above the reef off of Kailua-Kona to take photographs while swimming along a transect line. He took more than 1,000 photos of this single transect that will be stitched together to form a 3D model of this reef. It will be interesting to see how this reef with high coral cover has changed over time! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dani Escontrella
Veteran Colton Long monitors salmon and steelhead habitat in California’s Klamath River basin. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.
Multimedia
Glider “Adrian” getting deployed from the R/V Laurence M. Gould. Credit: Andrew Titmus
A chef prepares various finger foods made from squid fins in the Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant in Hitchner Hall at the University of Maine. Several chefs were invited to create dishes as part of a research project to develop new frozen foods made from squid fins. Photo courtesy of the University of Maine.
Research
Shrimp Futures Initiative
NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center is working to understand the profound challenges facing the Southeast’s shrimp fisheries to help prepare for their uncertain future.
Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Profile Development and Reports
Status of Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Profiles for Northeast fishery stock assessments.
Cooperative Research in the Southeast
Cooperative research involves partnerships between the fishing industry and scientists. We work together to improve our understanding of ocean ecosystems and support the management of sustainable and productive fisheries.
Understanding Sustainable Seafood
Well-managed wild-capture fisheries and environmentally responsible marine aquaculture play an increasingly important role in our food supply, our health, and the environment.
