South Africa: South Atlantic - Ocean Biodiversity Information System

South Africa: South Atlantic

Statistics

Occurrence records	1,401,499
Species level	1,247,172
Species	4,795
Taxa	6,553
Datasets	186
Time range	1758 - 2025

Data quality

Dropped records

Dropped records	0
Not marine	1,761
No WoRMS match	14,086
No coordinates	0
Zero coordinates	0

Taxonomic issues

Marine unsure	1,998
No accepted name available	2,897

Missing and invalid fields

Field	Missing	Invalid
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters	1,393,238	408
eventDate	8,501	0
maximumDepthInMeters	1,258,944	6
minimumDepthInMeters	1,243,252	6
occurrenceStatus	1,366,922	0
scientificName	1,319	0
scientificNameID	27,055	1,106

Spatial issues

Records on land	522,575
More than 20 km from shore	36
Depth exceeds bathymetric depth	5,527

Top datasets

Dataset	Records
Marine and Coastal Management - Linefish Dataset (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	1,060,072
Marine and Coastal Management - Demersal Surveys (AfrOBIS) Published 2020-12-02	102,603
Animal Demography Unit - South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) Published 2020-12-02	67,230
Marine and Coastal Management - Copepod Surveys Published 2020-12-02	65,309
Marine metagenomes from the bioGEOTRACES project (2010-2011) Published 2023-10-27	9,435
Animal Demography Unit - The Birds in Reserves Project (BIRP) Published 2020-12-02	9,084
Marine metagenomes from the bioGEOTRACES project Published 2022-09-20	8,813
Happywhale - Humpback whale in South Atlantic Ocean Published 2025-03-17	7,639
Animal Demography Unit - Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) Published 2020-12-02	7,513
PANGAEA - Data from international marine global change study (IMAGES) Published 2025-03-20	6,952

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	372,752
Pachymetopon blochii (Valenciennes, 1830) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	166,881
Thunnus alalunga (Bonnaterre, 1788) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	68,943
Chrysoblephus laticeps (Valenciennes, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	59,975
Rhabdosargus globiceps (Valenciennes, 1830) VU Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	55,018
Argyrosomus De la Pylaie, 1835 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	50,385
Morus capensis (Lichtenstein, 1823) EN Phylum Chordata > Class Aves	40,296
Atractoscion aequidens (Cuvier, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	37,643
Seriola lalandi Valenciennes, 1833 Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	34,210
Argyrozona argyrozona (Valenciennes, 1830) NT Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	29,261

Newest species

Scientific name	Records	Since
Prorocentrum gracile F.Schütt, 1895 Phylum Myzozoa > Class Dinophyceae	1	2022
Scyramathia hertwigi Chun, 1900 Phylum Arthropoda > Class Malacostraca	1	2022
Craniella cranium (Müller, 1776) Phylum Porifera > Class Demospongiae	1	2019
Craniella microspira Van Soest, 2024 Phylum Porifera > Class Demospongiae	1	2019
Balaenoptera brydei Olsen, 1913 Phylum Chordata > Class Mammalia	10	2016
Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864) Phylum Chordata > Class Teleostei	11	2016
Sousa plumbea (G. Cuvier, 1829) EN Phylum Chordata > Class Mammalia	5	2016
Prorocentrum triestinum J.Schiller, 1918 Phylum Myzozoa > Class Dinophyceae	1	2015
Chimaera notafricana Kemper, Ebert, Compagno & Didier, 2010 Phylum Chordata > Class Holocephali	3	2015
Rhynchospio mzansi Simon, Williams & Henninger, 2018 Phylum Annelida > Class Polychaeta	1	2015

Data providers

Name	Records
CSIR / SADCO / AfrOBIS	1,316,029
Marine and Coastal Management; Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	1,229,676
Marine and Coastal Management Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism	1,127,073
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO	86,063
University of Cape Town; Department of Zoology	83,827
AfrOBIS	16,597
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee	15,805
iziko South African Museum	15,137
CSIRO National Collections and Marine Infrastructure	10,863
European Molecular Biology Laboratory	9,557