Fishes and Corals of the World Listed in CITES Appendices

The first global 'Census of Marine Life (2010)' estimated that there are over 2, 30,000 species of organisms living in our Oceans. This census has analyzed the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the world's oceans. It has been revealed that, the marine life is highly biologically diverse and it has been explored only partially so far. It is estimated that there are almost 22,000 fish species in the world, which is more than the total number of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds combined and every year 100 new species are added to this list. Fish are divided into two major types. The first type is cartilaginous fish, which includes Sharks, Skate and Rays. The second type is the bony fish, which have a complete bony skeleton and are covered with bony scales. Bony fishes are the most common and account for over 90% of all fish.With all this diversity within; the ocean is a major contributor for the world food production. According to FAO (2010), the total world fish production has touched 88 million tons, out of which, inland capture fisheries contributed 11 million tons and the oceans contributed the rest of 77million ton