How many species of marine life exist?
Over 15,300 species of marine fish are now included in the Census database with another 2,000-3,000 expected by the time of the final Census report in 2010. CoML experts expect the final count of marine fish species to total roughly 20,000. An average of 1,700 other animals and numerous marine plants are also being catalogued each year. CoML scientists estimate that 210,000 marine life forms of all types are currently known to science, but the total in existence could be up to 10 times that number.