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.
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
California grunion are plankton eaters; they eat small, pelagic crustaceans and other zooplankton. Though they eat very small prey, they use their relatively large eyes and strong eyesight to attack individual prey. This strategy is in stark contrast to that used by the very large bodied filter feeders (like whale sharks and basking sharks), which essentially feed blindly … Read more
The skipjack tuna is a common species in the open ocean that forms very large schools, often around floating objects. A single floating log or slowly moving adult whale shark may have tens of thousands of skipjack around it. There are several hypotheses as to why this phenomenon occurs, but scientists generally agree that skipjack use these objects – … Read more
Bluebanded gobies are microcarnivores. They eat small crustaceans on the reef surface and from the water column directly above the reef surface. These gobies often hide near or under sea urchins (and the holes/hiding places that urchins create), and they do not like to stray far from these hiding places. They almost never leave direct contact with the … Read more
Female sarcastic fringeheads, like all tube blennies, lay their eggs in a males’ shelter, and the males protect them from potential predators and other threats until they hatch. This sexual selection by females drives a system of intense male competition and territoriality. Male sarcastic fringeheads display to each other by opening their very large mouths in … Read more
Physically, the Atlantic cod and its close relatives are noted for being the only group of fishes that have three distinct dorsal fins (along the back) and two distinct anal fins (along the ventral surface). Atlantic cod spend most of their time on or near the seafloor but may be observed feeding higher up in the … Read more
The scarlet frogfish, like all frogfishes, is an anglerfish. Most anglerfishes (e.g., the humpback anglerfish) live in the deep sea, but the frogfishes comprise a family of shallow-water representatives of this large group of interesting fishes. The frogfishes have small fishing lures, made from modifications of their dorsal fins, which they use to attract small fishes. The scarlet frogfish … 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.