Eastern Dry Rocks is a
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
C ...
located within the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary in the Florida Keys. It includes the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America and the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. It also has ...
. It lies seven miles southeast of Key West and one mile east of
Sand Key light within the
Key West National Wildlife Refuge. This reef is within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).
Composition
The Eastern Dry Rocks Reef includes rubble zones and long fingers of coral separated by deeper sand and coral canyons.
[ Rock Key Eastern Dry Rocks Is Popular For Wreck Diving](_blank)
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Diving and snorkeling
The Eastern Dry Rocks reef is a popular spot for diving and/or snorkeling. It is also quite close to multiple other reefs including
Sand Key and
Rock Key, so it is common for divers and snorkelers to see multiple reefs on one outing.
Marine life
One can find many different kinds of fish and other marine creatures at the reef. Common species include
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...
and
hammerhead sharks,
brain coral
Brain coral is a common name given to various corals in the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically ...
,
snook
Snook, Snooks, or Snoek may refer to:
Fishes
* Family Centropomidae (snooks)
** Common snook
* Family Esocidae (pikes)
** '' Haplochromis insidiae''
** Northern pike
* Family Gempylidae (snake mackerels)
** Blacksail snake mackerel or black ...
,
stingray,
cleaner shrimp
Cleaner shrimp is a common name for a number of swimming decapod crustaceans, that clean other organisms of parasites. They belong to any of three families, Hippolytidae (including the Pacific cleaner shrimp, ''Lysmata amboinensis''), Pala ...
,
reef crab,
octopus,
lobster,
moray eel
Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are f ...
,
parrotfish
Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, ro ...
,
angelfish,
sergeant major
Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world.
History
In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...
,
barracuda
A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...
,
Florida horse conch, and
queen conch. Many of the same species that can be found throughout the rest of the Keys are also found here, and even species from the greater Caribbean.
Other species of marine life have also been spotted at the reef, ranging from infrequently to even only a few times. Rarer species include
permit,
tarpon
Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.
Species a ...
,
spotted eagle ray,
sea turtles, and the
Atlantic Goliath grouper
The Atlantic goliath grouper or itajara (''Epinephelus itajara''), formerly known as the jewfish, is a saltwater fish of the grouper family and one of the largest species of bony fish. The species can be found in the west ranging from northeaste ...
.
See also
*
Rock Key
External links
Benthic Habitat Map
References
NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Maps, Florida Keys WestNOAA Navigational Chart 11446
{{Corals
Coral reefs of the Florida Keys