Green seagrass is not very common on the reef, because there are usually not enough nutrients or space for it to grow. However, it does grow well in soft muddy or sandy areas near a reef, where many animals depend on it for food. It also provides a home for many small animals, and hiding places for young animals trying to escape from predators!

Green seagrass may look like seaweed, but it’s actually quite different. When it reproduces, it bears flowers, fruits, and seeds just like roses and other flowers that live on land. Seaweeds don’t have these things. Green seagrass also has a root system that keeps it connected and anchored to the sea floor.

Green seagrass doesn’t have to eat other living things; it makes its own food through a process called photosynthesis. During photosynthesis it takes carbon dioxide and energy from the sun and converts them into sugar and oxygen. Photosynthesis takes place in organ-like parts in cells called chloroplasts. Because seagrass makes its own food, it is a producer.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


No available public DNA sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 2
Specimens with Barcodes: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1

Humans are the biggest threat for seagrass! When people start building on the coast, they dump pollutants and sediment (like sand) in the water. The pollutants can poison seagrass, and the sediment can cover it up, blocking out sunlight and starving it to death.