The Tortugas Banks are coral reefs that developed on a foundation of Pleistocene karst limestone at depths of 20 to 40 m. The banks are extensive with low coral diversity, but high coral cover. The most conspicuous coral is

Montastraea cavernosa ''Montastraea'' is a genus of colonial stony coral found in the Caribbean seas. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Montastraeidae and contains a single species, ''Montastraea cavernosa'', known as great star coral. It forms into massiv ...

, and black coral (Antipatharia) are common on the outer bank edges. The banks are also used by groupers and snappers that support a major fishery. The banks lie 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 ex ...

. *Tortugas Bank is the westernmost feature of the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

, but it is a submarine feature, wholly submerged, without any islands or above-water rocks. The least known depth is 11 meters. A depth of less than 18 meters is found in a circle of 4 km diameter around the center of the bank. Tortugas Bank is about 14 km west of

Loggerhead Key Loggerhead Key is an uninhabited tropical island within the Dry Tortugas group of islands in the Gulf of Mexico. At approximately 49 acres (19.8 hectares) in size, it is the largest island of the Dry Tortugas. Despite being uninhabited, the is ...

, the westernmost islet of the

Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas National Park is a national park located about west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park preserves Fort Jefferson and the seven Dry Tortugas islands, the westernmost and most isolated of the Florida Keys. The archipelago's c ...

and the closest piece of land. *8 Fathom Bank, about 6.5 km northeast of the center of Tortugas Bank *Little Bank, about 11 km northeast of the center of Tortugas Bank

External links

nautical descriptioninformation about coral reefs
{{coord missing, Florida Coral reefs of the Florida Keys