Indo-Pacific
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{{for|the proposed language family|Indo-Pacific languages}}
[[Image:Indo-Pacific biogeographic region map-en.png|right|thumb|300px|Area covered by the Indo-Pacific biogeographic region]]
The '''Indo-Pacific''' is a [[biogeography|biogeographic]] region of the earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the [[Indian Ocean]], the western and central [[Pacific Ocean]], and the seas connecting the two in the general area of [[Indonesia]]. It does not include the temperate and polar regions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, and the [[Tropical Eastern Pacific]], along the Pacific coast of the [[Americas]], is also a distinct [[marine realm]].
The term is especially useful in [[marine biology]], [[ichthyology]], and similar fields, since many marine [[habitat (ecology)|habitats]] are continuously connected from [[Madagascar]] to [[Japan]] and [[Oceania ecozone|Oceania]], and a number of species occur over that range, but are not found in the [[Atlantic Ocean]].
==Subdivisions==
The [[World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]] and [[Nature Conservancy]] divide the Indo-Pacific into three realms (or subrealms), and each of these into a number of marine provinces.
===Western Indo-Pacific===
The [[Western Indo-Pacific]] realm covers the western and central portion of the Indian Ocean, including the East coast of Africa, the [[Red Sea]], [[Gulf of Aden]], [[Persian Gulf]], [[Arabian Sea]], [[Bay of Bengal]], and [[Andaman Sea]].
===Central Indo-Pacific===
The [[Central Indo-Pacific]] includes the numerous seas and straits connecting the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the seas surrounding the Indonesian archipelago (with the exception of [[Sumatra]]'s northwest coast, which is part of the Western Indo-Pacific), the [[South China Sea]], the [[Philippine Sea]], the north coast of [[Australia]], and the seas surrounding [[New Guinea]], western and central [[Micronesia]], [[New Caledonia]], the [[Solomon Islands]], [[Vanuatu]], [[Fiji]], and [[Tonga]]. The Central Indo-Pacific, due in part to its central location at the meeting of two oceans, has the greatest diversity of [[coral]]s and [[mangrove]]s.
===Eastern Indo-Pacific===
The [[Eastern Indo-Pacific]] surrounds the mostly volcanic islands of the central Pacific Ocean, extending from the [[Marshall Islands]] through central and southeastern [[Polynesia]] to [[Easter Island]] and [[Hawaii]].
==References==
* Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al.'' "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". ''Bioscience'' Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573-583. [http://www.worldwildlife.org/MEOW/pdfs/meow_biosci.pdf]
{{Marine realms}}
[[Category:Biogeography]]
[[Category:Marine realms]]
[[Category:Oceans]]
[[Category:Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Pacific Ocean]]
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[[ja:インド太平洋]]