Secondary Consumers • The third trophic level in a coral reef ecosystem are the secondary consumers that eat primary consumers. secondary consumer: a consumer that eats primary consumers. The ocean has many herbivores. No. These are the large fish that excite divers. Fishing methods can be adapted to be less damaging to ocean habitats and the animals they support. The last levels are tertiary and quaternary, which feed on the secondary consumers and are the large fish, sharks, and sea lions. The little-glorified job of decomposing dead sea animals and plants is left to bacteria. A decomposer, such as a sponge, helps in breaking down dead organisms in the coral reef. A primary consumer is something that eats an autotroph, an organism that makes its own food from organic substances like a plant. If the primary consumers of algae are missing a reef becomes overrun with algae and is not healthy. Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, usually from 3 to 10 cm (1 to 4 in) across. Some Types of Sea Urchins are edible to eat. Another example of a primary consumer is the shrimp. Sea urchins are echinoderms, a phylum of marine animals shared with starfish, sand dollars and sea cucumbers. Sea urchins are important grazers and influence reef development in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). Many primary consumers feed on kelp, which in turn, are consumed by secondary consumers. They are the producers of the ecosystem providing energy for primary consumers, like sea urchins, sea stars, jellyfish, crabs and snails. Their role can be especially important on reefs where other herbivores (such as parrotfishes and rabbitfishes) have been depleted. They are also known as herbivores. I know that only because sea urchins are actuallly primary consumers. Other herbivores include small fish, squid, sea urchins, and krill. Sponges, sea urchins, and sea stars are all primary consumers. Sea Urchin Roe. 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