Sea creatures live in habitat

Fish Main article: Coral reef fishOver 4,000 species of fish inhabit coral reefs.[2 ] The reasons for this diversity remain controversial. Hypotheses include the "lottery", in which the first (lucky winner) recruit to a territory is typically able to defend it against latecomers, "competition", in which adults compete for territory, and less-competitive species must be able to survive in poorer habitat, and "predation", in which population size is a function of postsettlement piscivore mortality.[73 ] Healthy reefs can produce up to 35 tons of fish per square kilometer each year, but damaged reefs produce much less.[74 ]

Reef species include:
 * Fish that influence the coral feed either on small animals living near the coral, seaweed/algae, or on the coral itself. Fish that feed on small animals include Labridae (cleaner fish) which notably feed on organisms that inhabit larger fish, bullet fish[citation needed] and sea urchin-eating Balistidae (triggerfish), while seaweed-eating fish include the Pomacentridae (damselfishes). Serranidae (groupers) cultivate the seaweed by removing creatures feeding on it (such as sea urchins), and they remove inedible seaweeds. Fish that eat coral itself include Scaridae (parrotfish) and Chaetodontidae (butterflyfish