South Africa: Indian Ocean - Ocean Biodiversity Information System

South Africa: Indian Ocean

Statistics

Occurrence records	2,157,798
Species level	1,444,516
Species	8,785
Taxa	10,817
Datasets	185
Time range	1758 - 2025

Data quality

Dropped records

Dropped records	0
Not marine	4,266
No WoRMS match	8,276
No coordinates	0
Zero coordinates	0

Taxonomic issues

Marine unsure	832
No accepted name available	108,494

Missing and invalid fields

Field	Missing	Invalid
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters	2,137,181	3,383
eventDate	26,555	0
maximumDepthInMeters	2,058,130	0
minimumDepthInMeters	2,058,469	0
occurrenceStatus	1,935,221	0
scientificName	4,447	0
scientificNameID	15,788	322

Spatial issues

Records on land	991,432
More than 20 km from shore	115
Depth exceeds bathymetric depth	15,319

Top datasets

Dataset	Records
Marine and Coastal Management - Linefish Dataset (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	1,676,737
UNESCO eDNA expedition in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa): April 2023 Published 2024-12-08	167,349
Marine and Coastal Management - Demersal Surveys (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	89,344
Animal Demography Unit - South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) Published 2020-12-02	44,845
Marine and Coastal Management - Copepod Surveys Published 2020-12-02	26,009
Occurrence records of southern African aquatic biodiversity Published 2024-05-09	25,024
Natal Museum - Mollusc Collection Published 2020-12-02	23,586
Ponta do Ouro zambezi shark tracking Published 2024-08-30	9,996
Selmar Schonland Herbarium Marine Algae Collection Published 2017-01-26	9,212
Animal Demography Unit - The Birds in Reserves Project (BIRP) Published 2020-12-02	7,884

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
Loligo reynaudii A. d'Orbigny, 1841 Phylum Mollusca > Class Cephalopoda	306,838
Argyrosomus De la Pylaie, 1835 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	176,628
Merluccius Rafinesque, 1810 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	135,850
Argyrozona argyrozona (Valenciennes, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	111,013
Biota incertae sedis	106,305
Chrysoblephus puniceus (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	92,048
Cheimerius nufar (Valenciennes, 1830) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	89,429
Selachii Phylum Chordata > Class Elasmobranchii	79,158
Epinephelus Bloch, 1793 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	69,804
Pterogymnus laniarius (Valenciennes, 1830) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	61,850

Newest species

Scientific name	Records	Since
Clausocalanus furcatus (Brady, 1883) Phylum Arthropoda > Class Copepoda	116	2023
Clytia gracilis (M. Sars, 1851) Phylum Cnidaria > Class Hydrozoa	111	2023
Micromonas pusilla (Butcher) Manton & Parke, 1960 Phylum Chlorophyta > Class Mamiellophyceae	1,368	2023
Phaeocystis globosa Scherffel, 1899 Phylum Haptophyta > Class Coccolithophyceae	362	2023
Eucampia striata Stolterfoth, 1879 Phylum Heterokontophyta > Class Bacillariophyceae	96	2023
Pelagomonas calceolata R.A.Andersen & G.Saunders, 1993 Phylum Ochrophyta > Class Pelagophyceae	287	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	1,883,848
Marine and Coastal Management; Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	1,792,164
Marine and Coastal Management Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	1,702,820
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization	167,350
iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, South Africa	167,349
UNESCO-IOC	167,349
UNESCO-WHC	167,349
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO	63,330
University of Cape Town; Department of Zoology	57,311
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity	25,024