How many species of animals live in the Indian Ocean?

over 2,200 species – approximately 75% of world’s coral reef fish species), the turtles (5 species), the sea cucumbers (140 species), the shelled marine molluscs (over 3 200 species, e.g. bivalve, oysters, clams and mussels), the corals (ca. 300 species), the mangroves (9 species), and the seagrasses (12 species).

What wildlife is in the ocean?

Unfortunately, the world’s oceans — home to whales, sea otters, seals and sea lions, dolphins, manatees, seabirds, sea turtles, sharks, fish, corals, and countless other species of marine life — are in a sea of trouble.

Does the Indian Ocean have sharks?

So, are there sharks in the Indian Ocean? In short – yes. Sharks prey on other marine life such as eels, rays, seals, fish, crustaceans, and so on. The Indian Ocean is rich with life, making it a hotspot for sharks and unfortunate encounters.

Does Indian Ocean have whales?

While enormous blue whales feed in the waters around Antarctica, smaller pygmy blue whale populations are known to inhabit the Indian Ocean, the third-largest ocean in the world.

What is one animal only found in the Indian Ocean?

Animals Unique to the Indian Ocean Several animals are only found in the Indian Ocean. Those include a form of clownfish, the Chagos anemonefish, that is light to dark brown in color. The Chagos dottyback is a bright colored fish and gobies in the species of Trimmatom Nanus are small fish.

Where is 90% of the ocean wildlife found?

More than 90 percent of all marine life inhabits the shallow waters surrounding the Earth’s landmasses.

Is ocean a wildlife?

Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals, and other organisms that live in the salt water of the sea or ocean, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. Other fish evolved into land mammals and subsequently returned to the ocean as seals, dolphins, or whales.

Is the Indian Ocean safe to swim in?

A PARADISE island in the Indian Ocean is so infested with sharks that swimming and surfing have been banned over fears of attacks. Surfing and swimming have been banned outside of the island’s relatively safe coral lagoon, due to fears of attacks, since 2013.

What is the largest animal in the Indian Ocean?

Blue whale
Blue whale – The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the largest species on earth.

Do killer whales live in the Indian ocean?

Over 50 individual whales have been documented in the northern Indian Ocean, including two individuals that were sighted in the Persian Gulf in 2008 and off Sri Lanka in 2015. Those orcas may occasionally enter the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden.

What whales do you find in the Indian ocean?

The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary is home to many species of whales, here is the list of 10 species of whales found in India.

  • Blue Whale.
  • Fin Whale.
  • Humpback Whale.
  • Sperm Whale.
  • Minke Whale.
  • Bryde’s Whale.
  • Sei Whale.
  • Melon Headed Whale.

Are there starfish in the Indian Ocean?

The Indian sea star (Fromia indica) is a species of starfish native to the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean It can be found from the Andaman islands as far west as Sri Lanka and as far east as the Fiji Islands.

What kind of animals live in the Indian Ocean?

The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world after the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is encircled by Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia and Australia and is home to a number of endangered marine animals, such as the dugong seals, turtles and whales.

What species of fish live in the Indian Ocean?

The wahoo, a steel blue fish and the lionfish , poisonous with spiky fins, are two species of fish found in the Indian Ocean. The Masked Butterfly fish, named for its dark marking on the eyes, and the Arabian Angelfish, with vivid blue and yellow coloration, are among other fish in the Indian Ocean.

The tail of a blue whale in the Indian Ocean. The blue whale is a large marine mammal of the genus Balaenoptera . The blue whale is the largest animal in history, with adults attaining a maximum weight of 191 short tons and a length of up to 98 feet.

Are there jellyfish in the Indian Ocean?

The rhopoema nomadica , or nomadic jellyfish, is native to the Indian Ocean but in the eighties, they started turning up in the eastern Mediterranean, presumably through the Suez Canal. Now this…