South Africa: all - Ocean Biodiversity Information System

South Africa: all

Statistics

Occurrence records	3,710,273
Species level	2,842,021
Species	11,407
Taxa	14,901
Datasets	260
Time range	1758 - 2025

Data quality

Dropped records

Dropped records	0
Not marine	6,115
No WoRMS match	22,904
No coordinates	0
Zero coordinates	0

Taxonomic issues

Marine unsure	2,845
No accepted name available	111,419

Missing and invalid fields

Field	Missing	Invalid
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters	3,681,224	3,824
eventDate	36,322	0
maximumDepthInMeters	3,465,683	49
minimumDepthInMeters	3,449,307	49
occurrenceStatus	3,449,852	0
scientificName	5,968	0
scientificNameID	43,729	1,612

Spatial issues

Records on land	1,546,518
More than 20 km from shore	151
Depth exceeds bathymetric depth	21,399

Top datasets

Dataset	Records
Marine and Coastal Management - Linefish Dataset (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	2,736,809
Marine and Coastal Management - Demersal Surveys (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	191,335
UNESCO eDNA expedition in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa): April 2023 Published 2024-12-08	167,349
The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking (Standardised) Data from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Published 2024-10-23	139,907
Animal Demography Unit - South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) Published 2020-12-02	130,253
Marine and Coastal Management - Copepod Surveys Published 2020-12-02	91,285
Occurrence records of southern African aquatic biodiversity Published 2024-05-09	28,686
Natal Museum - Mollusc Collection Published 2020-12-02	24,472
Animal Demography Unit - The Birds in Reserves Project (BIRP) Published 2020-12-02	16,968
Selmar Schonland Herbarium Marine Algae Collection Published 2017-01-26	13,205

Distribution

Disclaimer: EEZ boundaries based on Marine Regions (no endorsement).

Records

Composition

detailed (class) simple

Top taxa

Unique species IUCN Red List All taxa Unique species IUCN Red List All taxa Unique species IUCN Red List All taxa

Scientific name	Records
Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen, 1791) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	377,518
Loligo reynaudii A. d'Orbigny, 1841 Phylum Mollusca > Class Cephalopoda	319,158
Argyrosomus De la Pylaie, 1835 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	227,013
Pachymetopon blochii (Valenciennes, 1830) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	167,623
Argyrozona argyrozona (Valenciennes, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	140,273
Merluccius Rafinesque, 1810 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	137,388
Chrysoblephus laticeps (Valenciennes, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	112,533
Biota incertae sedis	106,305
Atractoscion aequidens (Cuvier, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	98,116
Chrysoblephus puniceus (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	92,061

Newest species

Scientific name	Records	Since
Clausocalanus furcatus (Brady, 1883) Phylum Arthropoda > Class Copepoda	116	2023
Paracalanus indicus Wolfenden, 1906 Phylum Arthropoda > Class Copepoda	75	2023
Clytia gracilis (M. Sars, 1851) Phylum Cnidaria > Class Hydrozoa	111	2023
Eucampia striata Stolterfoth, 1879 Phylum Heterokontophyta > Class Bacillariophyceae	96	2023
Marphysa corallina (Kinberg, 1865) Phylum Annelida > Class Polychaeta	72	2023
Glossogobius aureus Akihito & Meguro, 1975 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	81	2023
Pseudo-nitzschia cuspidata (Hasle) Hasle, 1993 Phylum Heterokontophyta > Class Bacillariophyceae	96	2023
Bellerochea polymorpha Hargraves & Guillard, 1974 Phylum Heterokontophyta > Class Bacillariophyceae	464	2023
Pseudo-nitzschia sabit S.T. Teng, H.C. Lim, P.T. Lim & C.P. Leaw, 2015 Phylum Heterokontophyta > Class Bacillariophyceae	129	2023
Chloroparvula pacifica Lopes dos Santos, Noël & Eikrem, 2017 Phylum Chlorophyta > Class Chloropicophyceae	125	2023

Data providers

Name	Records
CSIR / SADCO / AfrOBIS	3,218,134
Marine and Coastal Management; Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	3,021,195
Marine and Coastal Management Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	2,829,860
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO	167,623
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization	167,359
iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, South Africa	167,349
UNESCO-IOC	167,349
UNESCO-WHC	167,349
University of Cape Town; Department of Zoology	159,316
British Antarctic Survey	142,284