Over 400 have been identified and catalogued and many are now held in the reference collection, including 5 species of turtles, 51 species of echinoderms, 5 species of sea grasses and 285 species of alga & sponges, crustaceans, and tunicates (Hoon, Chong, Roy, Bierhuizen, & Kanvinde, 1997).

The total number of coral species recorded from the Maldives to date is about 200, representing over 60 genera, 5 species of turtles, 51 species of echinoderms, 5 species of sea grasses and 285 species of alga & sponges, crustaceans, and tunicates. (Hoon, Chong, Roy, Bierhuizen, & Kanvinde, 1997). In the Uthuru Province, Baa Atoll, Maldives you can find Moray Eels, Puffer Fish, Fusiliers, Jackfish, Lionfish. (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010)
In the Kaafu Atoll, Maldives you can find Sweetlips, Sharks, Groupers, Eels, and Snappers. In the North Ari Atoll, Medhu-Uthuru Province, Maldives you can find Groupers, Rays, Moray Eels, Banner Fish, Bat Fish, Hump head Wrasse, Stingrays (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010).

In the Medhu-Uthuru Province, Ari Atoll you can find Eagle Rays, Spotted Rays, Scorpion Fish, Puffer Fish, Reef Fish, Lobsters, Groupers. In the West of the Hinnavaru Island you can find Moray Eels, Nudibranches, Groupers, Turtles, Rays, Angelfish, Butterfly Fish, Scorpion Fish (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010). In the South of Filitheyo, North Nilandhe Atoll you can find Squirrel fish, soldier fish, banner fish, glass fish, fusiliers and unicorn fish (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010).

In the Outer West of the North Male Atoll you can find Napoleon wrasses, tuna, barracudas, surgeonfish, snappers, gray reef sharks, white and silver tip reef sharks and eagle rays (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010).

These coral reefs are home to a variety of marine ecosystems that vary from planktonic organisms to sharks, crustaceans and sponges. Sponges have gained a special interest as five species have already being identified as having anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties(Hoon, Chong, Roy, Bierhuizen, & Kanvinde, 1997).

In 1998 Warming Temperatures’ by El Nino phenomenon killed 2/3 of the Maldives coral reefs due to bleaching (Wheatley, 2004). Coral Reef bleaching is a “term suggested in place of "coral bleaching" because this condition is seldom limited to corals and most affected photo symbiotic hosts reside on coral reefs” (WILLIAMS & BUNKLEY-WILLIAMS, 1990).

Bleaching is the loss of photo symbiotic microorganisms (dinoflagellates, red and green algae, or cyanobacteria), or the pigments of these photosymbionts, or some of both, from tissues of host cnidarians, sponges, mollusks or other photosymbiotic host animals. The name comes from the whitening of many hosts which possess few pigments of their own(WILLIAMS & BUNKLEY-WILLIAMS, 1990).

Due to the bleaching that occurred in 1998 from the El-Nino effect, much of the coral life was reduced. The marine water had been raised as much as 5 degrees, but several scientists came together to create electrified cones. Each cone was placed any where from 20-60 feet below the water. The electrified cone create an attraction for the larva to attach itself.

In 2004 scientists witnessed corals regenerating. Corals began to eject pink-orange eggs and sperm(Wheatley, 2004). The growth of these corals are surprisingly five times faster than ordinary corals(Wheatley, 2004). One of the scientists named Azeez Hakim witnessed this extraordinary event. “Before 1998, we never thought that this reef would die. We had always taken for granted that these animals would be there, that this reef would be there forever. El Nino gave us a wake-up call that these things are not going to be there forever.” Hakim said. (SCUBA DIVE MALDIVES, 2010)

This is great news because without their recovery it would be difficult to maintain the balance of the environment. (Marine Life of the Maldives, Maldives diving, Maldives surfing). “They help by removing and recycling the carbon-dioxide which in excess amounts can lead to global warming.

Not only this, they also act as a natural barrier against the tropical storms, floods and tsunamis. Seaweeds grow on the skeletons of dead coral”(Marine Life of the Maldives). The corals reefs are like the rainforest for marine life.