Some estimates report the world’s oceans are home to 20,000 species of fish. Ocean fishes come in all shapes, sizes, colors and live in drastically different depths and temperatures. Despite this diversity, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2016 that 89.5% of fish stocks are fully fished or overfished.
Learn fun facts and how you can help you favorite ocean fishes – from Atlantic bluefin tuna to blue tang – by clicking a species below.
The guineafowl puffer, like all puffers, has powerful jaws and beak-like teeth. The teeth of the upper jaw are fused into two tooth plates, as are the teeth in the lower jaw. In fact, the family name for puffers (Tetraodontidae) means “four teeth,” reflecting the two tooth plates that these fishes have in each jaw. Guineafowl puffers … Read more
Wahoo are powerful swimmers and aggressive predators that feed on a variety of schooling fishes and pelagic squids. Unlike the true tunas and the billfishes, this species does not have the ability to regulate its body temperature, but it is still one of the open ocean’s fastest fishes. When excited – particularly when hunting – wahoo often … Read more
French angelfish are foragers and eat a variety of sessile invertebrates and plants, including sponges, algae, soft corals, tunicates, and others. Juveniles clean parasites and loose scales off of large fishes, including some that are predatory. French angelfish typically forage in pairs. In fact, they are almost always observed in pairs, which they form for mating and to … Read more
Tropical two-wing flyingfish feed on plankton crustaceans and other small invertebrates. They have large eyes and excellent eyesight and can therefore hunt and eat individual plankton. This is in stark contrast to the very large-bodied filter feeders (like the whale shark or basking shark), which blindly filter huge volumes of water in order to obtain sufficient food. Tropical two-wing … Read more
The common dolphinfish is an open ocean predator that eats small fishes, squids, and pelagic crustaceans. It is also an important prey species for sharks, billfishes, and other large predators. Therefore, much like the skipjack tuna, the common dolphinfish plays a vital intermediate role in open ocean food webs. The males are larger than females and reach lengths of … Read more
Like all flatfishes, summer flounder have both of their eyes on the same side of their heads, and they live on the seafloor, lying on their blind side, with their eyes facing the open water column. This species is one of several “sand flounders,” with both eyes on the left side of the head. Amazingly, when they … Read more
Coelacanths live in deep waters off of southeastern Africa. Only once fishers started fishing deeper and deeper was this species discovered. Before that time, this entire family of fishes was only known from fossils. Coelacanths reach lengths over 6.5 feet (2 m) and are nocturnal predators. They spend daylight hours hiding in caves and other dark spaces and … Read more
Like sharks and rays, the chimaeras have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. This characteristic links those three groups of fishes and distinguishes them from the bony fishes. The spotted ratfish is a generalist predator and eats a variety of invertebrates and fishes associated with the seafloor. These include crabs, clams, and other hard-shelled prey, and the … Read more
Chilean common hake are generalist predators and eat a variety of benthic prey. They are known to eat squids, crustaceans, and other invertebrates and several species of bony fishes. Though they spend most of their lives associated with the seafloor, Chilean common hake sometimes hunt in the water column. Females have faster growth rates and reach larger sizes – … Read more
The slender snipe eel is an active predator that feeds on pelagic crustaceans in the dark of the deep ocean. Its behaviors are not well understood, but scientists believe it captures its prey by swimming with its mouth open and slashing its head and “beak” side to side when it senses nearby prey. Larger fishes, including some … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.