BIOtheNUMBERS

More than 1,000 species of sharks and rays inhabit the earth’s oceans

Basking sharks filter up to 1,500 gallons of water per hour

The smallest is a lantern shark, averaging just 8 inches

The largest fish in the world is the whale shark and can reach lengths of over 40 to 60 feet

The fastest shark is the Mako, which has reached speeds of more than 45 miles per hour

Blue sharks have been tracked swimming more than 10,000 miles

Sharks may hear a fish a mile away

Sharks can smell blood in the water from 1/3 of a mile away

The Spiny dogfish has a gestation period close to 2 years, which makes it one of the longest of any animals

Spiny dogfish females are thought to reach breeding age at 35 years

Dusky shark females reach breeding age at 20 years

The smalltooth sawfish population has declined by 99%

The IUCN estimates that 20% of sharks are in danger of extinction

Worldwide shark takes have tripled since 1985

Tens of millions of sharks are accidentally caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries each year

According to Oceana, “estimates of the total number of sharks killed each year for their fins range from 26 to 73 million per year.”

Data: Ocean Conservancy and Oceana

7,600 – Estimated square miles covered by shallow-water coral reefs in the United States

375 billion – Estimated annual amount in goods and services coral reef ecosystems provide worldwide

500 million – Number of people worldwide that depend on coral reefs for food, income, and resources

50% – Amount of federally managed commercial fish species that need coral reefs for at least part of their life cycle

67% – Percent of reef fish species overfished in U.S. waters of the south Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean

90-96% – Percent of nearshore coral species killed by white band disease in the 1990s

>2,000 – Number of coral species listed under CITES

United States – The world’s largest importer of ornamental coral reef resources

$360 million – Estimated amount of money generated by coral reefs for recreation per year in Hawaii

33% – Percent of all marine fish species that call coral reefs home

6 million – The metric tons of seafood harvested annually from coral reef fisheries

0.2% – The amount of ocean area covered by tropical coral reefs

Data: U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. Final Report. 2004

With frequent new discoveries, the number of valid scientific descriptions of species of fishes is always on the upswing.  Projections from 2006, self-described as conservative, put the eventual number  of living species to be close to 32,500.  Fishbase.org, updated in April 2009, has a searchable database of 31,200 species.

77 A.D.  – ~144 known species
1976 – 18,818 known species, 450 families
1984 – 21,723 known species, 445 families
1994 – 24,618 known species, 482 families
2006 – 27,977 known species, 515 families

Of the total species formally described in 2006, 42.7% (11,952) of species live in freshwater, 55.5% (15,520) of species live in seawater, and 1.8% (505) of species move between freshwater and oceans during their lifecycles. 

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