How many fish species in the world

Welcome to the world of fishes!
FishBase is a global biodiversity information system on finfishes. Its initial goal to provide key facts on population dynamics for 200 major commercial species has now grown to having a wide range of information on all species currently known in the world: taxonomy, biology, trophic ecology, life history, and uses, as well as historical data reaching back to 250 years.

At present, FishBase covers >33,000 fish species compiled from >52,000 references in partnership with >2,000 collaborators: >300,000 common names and >55,000 pictures. Our website gathers more than 700,000 visits monthly.

The breadth and depth of information in the database, combined with the analytical and graphical tools available in the web, cater to different needs of diverse groups of stakeholders (scientists, researchers, policy makers, fisheries managers, donors, conservationists, teachers and students). Its various applications aim for sustainable fisheries management, biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.

FishBase is currently hosted by the Quantitative Aquatics, Incorporated (Q-quatics), a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization engaged in the development and management of global databases on aquatic organisms, including their distribution and ecology. It is scientifically guided by a Consortium of 12 international members (see below).

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With the help of >2,000 collaborators we update the database daily (internally), and bimonthly on the website. FishBase provides the database and web interface for free for 25 years thanks to a full-time dedicated team. However, we lack recurrent funding to maintain the information system up to date both in content and technological innovation. We gratefully acknowledge financial contribution to continue the service of this open resource.

Data statistics as of October 2015

33,230Speciesspecies-group taxa; 59 species have 95 subspecies 33,125 species94,647Synonyms“synonyms” [88,015 names + 7,260 misidentifications]306,369Common namescommon names in 344 languages for 253 “countries”184,552Reports in countriesfor 293 “countries”135,276Reports in ecosystemsfor 434 “ecosystems” [+505 in progress]60,147Reports in FAO areas26 areas [continents and large ocean basins]19,130Species with morphologymorphological descriptions1,668Identification keysfor 8,205 species56,557Imagesphotos, drawings, ... for 18,999 species52,100Referencesbibliographic references [633,798 citation of names]~3 millionRecords in totalin >200 tables (~60 main)

FishBase 2013

FishBase is also available on DVD, a static version in a web-based interface, with data as of early 2013 (1st quarter), full information on 32,500 species. It comes together with the FishBase 2000 book and can be ordered for 100 US$ including air-mail.

Note, this data from Fishbase dates to July 2019, but is the most recent available on a global scale. If you are aware of more up-to-date data, please contact us.

Country / regionFishRankThreatened fish species (2018)Australia4,9341125Indonesia4,7722166Brazil4,521393Japan4,054477China3,6225136Philippines3,339691United States (USA)3,0747251Taiwan2,8688Papua New Guinea2,858961Mexico2,62410181India2,58311227Vietnam2,4211283New Caledonia2,4061337Thailand2,13814106South Africa2,08715121Colombia2,0531699Malaysia1,9381787Mozambique1,7681872Tanzania, United Republic of1,75519179Venezuela1,7232045Peru1,5732152Palau1,5502221Congo1,5082394Congo, The Democratic Republic of the1,4802457Panama1,4102557Fiji1,3022620Micronesia, Federated States of1,2302725Madagascar1,17328111Seychelles1,1692924Tonga1,1433016Canada1,1403144Sri Lanka1,1253257Maldives1,1223324Costa Rica1,1203464Ecuador1,1093561Mauritius1,1073621South Korea1,1073628New Zealand1,1053738Cuba1,1033844Nicaragua1,0733940Myanmar1,0724053Cameroon1,06341122Kenya1,0574274Suriname1,0454332Oman1,0434436Honduras1,0274545Hong Kong1,0264615Argentina1,0164742Guam1,0114814Guyana9934933Trinidad and Tobago9875037Guinea9795176Solomon Islands9735224Samoa9675316French Guiana96054Marshall Islands9575518Russian Federation9565639Reunion95357Cambodia9365848Egypt9365858French Polynesia9315928Angola9266053Guatemala9026141Bahamas8846243Saudi Arabia8526341Vanuatu8436418Somalia8416531Turkey83266131France8036753Spain8036783Puerto Rico8036732Gabon7926872Northern Mariana Islands7886914Senegal7877058Nigeria7757174Chile7717227Yemen7527340Morocco7347454American Samoa7317512Pakistan7217646Singapore7197729Uruguay7137845Mauritania7117945Cape Verde71080Israel6958150Ghana6948258Sierra Leone6848357Guinea-Bissau6778441Cote d'lvoire6758559Iran6738647Namibia6628733Belize6498845Greece6418980Jamaica6369030Italy6199152Liberia6139264Christmas Island61093Benin5989440El Salvador5879517Gambia5819635Aruba5749724Laos5729855Cook Islands57099Bangladesh56910029Virgin Islands, U.S.569100Equatorial Guinea56710144Togo56510238Comoros56310311Portugal55810467Jordan55610520Kiribati53410614Dominican Republic53110729Barbados52910829Haiti52710930Kuwait52611018United Arab Emirates51911120Bahrain51711214Cocos (Keeling) Island513113Qatar50511417Antigua and Barbuda50211531Dominica50111631Brunei Darussalam49911714Grenada49811829Saint Lucia495119British Indian Ocean Territory487120Saint Vincent and the Grenadines486121Sudan48012232Virgin Islands, British480122Algeria47612341Cayman Islands47312431Malawi47012536Bermuda47012527Saint Kitts and Nevis461126Martinique456127Western Sahara443128Guadeloupe435129Anguilla432130United Kingdom42213148Albania42013244Croatia41813364Zambia40613420Montserrat405135Bolivia4041368Ireland39913728Slovenia39813833Syrian Arab Republic39513951Djibouti39513923Turks and Caicos Islands38014030Tunisia36414139Mayotte356142Eritrea35514329São Tomé and Príncipe35114425Pitcairn339145Bosnia and Herzegovina33614636Gibraltar331147Montenegro32814832Lebanon32514928Malta32215022Iraq31715119East Timor (Timor-Leste)313152North Korea30515328Norfolk Island303154Iceland29915516Norway29215623Nepal2911577Monaco28815815Libya28415932Cyprus27916024Uganda27016160Paraguay2631620Greenland2631629Sweden24616315Germany24516424Burundi24316517Ukraine23916624Niue229167Bulgaria22216822Denmark22116918Netherlands21017015Romania20717122Wallis and Futuna2001722Antarctica199173Central African Republic1981743Tuvalu19717513Belgium19317613Saint Helena171177Ethiopia17017814Zimbabwe1501793Macau1491809Poland1441818Mali1421822Chad1381831Georgia13318411Faroe Islands13118513Afghanistan1251864Burkina Faso1231874Tokelau118188Kazakhstan11618914Latvia1141906Niger1071914Finland1011926Lithuania981936Serbia9419415Austria9319511Slovakia92196Falkland Island (Malvinas)92196Switzerland881979Uzbekistan861987Azerbaijan8519914Nauru85199Botswana832002Hungary832009Mongolia812012Czech Republic802022Rwanda772037Estonia722045Turkmenistan6720513Moldova, Republic of622068South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands60207Belarus582082Swaziland57209North Macedonia5621013Armenia542113Bhutan522123Svalbard and Jan Mayen43213Kyrgyzstan322143Heard Islands and McDonald Islands28215Luxemburg142161South Sudan132170Liechtenstein132170Saint Pierre and Miquelon13217Bouvet Island13217Lesotho122181Andorra72190Tajikistan42205French Southern Territories (France)0221Netherlands Antilles0221San Marino0221United States Minor Outlying Islands0221Holy See (Vatican City State)0221

Source: Plant data is from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC), 2004. Species Data. Fish: Fishbase; Birds: Birdlife International; Amphibians: AmphibiaWeb; Mammals: IUCN; Reptiles: the Reptile Database.

IUCN Red List (partial list of rainforest countries): Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Côte D’ivoire, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo Brazzaville, Congo Kinshasa, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

How many species of fish are there in the world 2022?

According to FishBase about 34,800 species of fish had been described as of February 2022, which is more than the combined total of all other vertebrate species: mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds.