Abstract: There are abundant of biological resources in the sea. As one of the bioactive substances resource, the functional characteristics of marine creatures were gradually emphasized by researchers.In this paper, the main functional characteristics of marine bioactive substances, such as antibacterial, antioxidant, anticardiovascular disease, cancer-prevention, neuroprotection, anti-inflammatory, obesity-prevention and prebiotic activity, etc, were introduced respectively. Moreover, the future development of marine bioactive substances was also prospected.