FishBase 2000
A Global Information System on Fishes

Welcome to the world of fishes!
FishBase is a global biodiversity information system on finfishes. Its initial goal to provide key facts on population dynamics for 200 major commercial species has now grown to having a wide range of information on all species currently known in the world: taxonomy, biology, trophic ecology, life history, and uses, as well as historical data reaching back to 250 years.

At present, FishBase covers >33,000 fish species compiled from >52,000 references in partnership with >2,000 collaborators: >300,000 common names and >55,000 pictures. Our website gathers more than 700,000 visits monthly.

The breadth and depth of information in the database, combined with the analytical and graphical tools available in the web, cater to different needs of diverse groups of stakeholders (scientists, researchers, policy makers, fisheries managers, donors, conservationists, teachers and students). Its various applications aim for sustainable fisheries management, biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.

FishBase is currently hosted by the FishBase Information and Research Group, Incorporated with headquarters located in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. FIN is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization engaged in the development and management of global databases on aquatic organisms, including their distribution and ecology. It is scientifically guided by a Consortium of 10 international members (see below).

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With the help of >2,000 collaborators we update the database daily (internally), and bimonthly on the website. FishBase provides the database and web interface for free for 25 years thanks to a full-time dedicated team. However, we lack recurrent funding to maintain the information system up to date both in content and technological innovation. We gratefully acknowledge financial contribution to continue the service of this open resource.

Data statistics as of October 2015

33,230 Species species-group taxa; 59 species have 95 subspecies 33,125 species
94,647 Synonyms “synonyms” [88,015 names + 7,260 misidentifications]
306,369 Common names common names in 344 languages for 253 “countries”
184,552 Reports in countries for 293 “countries”
135,276 Reports in ecosystems for 434 “ecosystems” [+505 in progress]
60,147 Reports in FAO areas 26 areas [continents and large ocean basins]
19,130 Species with morphology morphological descriptions
1,668 Identification keys for 8,205 species
56,557 Images photos, drawings, ... for 18,999 species
52,100 References bibliographic references [633,798 citation of names]
~3 million Records in total in >200 tables (~60 main)

FishBase 2013

FishBase is also available on DVD, a static version in a web-based interface, with data as of early 2013 (1st quarter), full information on 32,500 species. It comes together with the FishBase 2000 book and can be ordered for 100 US$ including air-mail.

Fish Forum

Are you looking for a particular piece of information? Ask colleagues/experts through the Fish Forum .

Be a Collaborator!

Interested in becoming our collaborator? Find out how to be a FishBase collaborator.

We're Fishing for Fish Photos

We are looking for fish photos. Learn how to become a collaborator by contributing pictures to FishBase See complete list of missing pictures. Or download TXT file.

We're Fishing for Maximum Lengths

We are looking for reported maximum length in literature. Please help us by providing references, preferably in PDF format.Technical reports and documents are appreciated as well. See complete list of species for which we are missing maximum length. Or download TXT file.


Scientific Advisors



FishBase Web Stats

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© 2015 FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc..