Indian Ocean Fish Species – The 3rd Largest Ocean on the Planet!

Last Updated on March 12, 2024 by Jeremy

The Indian ocean fish species are just as numerous, and unique, than what we learned in previous articles such as Pacific Ocean Fish Species and Atlantic Ocean Fish Species.

Referenced from Wikipedia, “the Indian ocean is bounded by Asia to the North, Africa to the West, and Australia to the East. The Southern ocean, or Antarctica (however you look at it) borders the South”.

Even though the total area is 70,560,000 square kilometers, which is about 20% of the Earth’s water, this ocean will be divided into 4 areas:

• The Persian Gulf
• The Red Sea
• Sri Lanka
• Western Australia

Let’s get FISHING!

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The Persian Gulf

This Gulf, or inland sea, covers an area of 251,000 square kilometers (96,912 miles).

The listed Middle Eastern countries that surround the Gulf are:

1. Iran
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Qatar
4. Kuwait
5. Bahrain
6. Oman
7. Saudi Arabia
8. Iraq

Within these coastal waters live 12 species of fish. They are:

• Arabian carpetshark
• Leopard torpedo
• Blacktip tope
• Arabian banded whipray
• Cheekspot blenny
• Pita skate
• Dollfus’ stargazer
• Smoothtooth blacktip shark
• Greater lizardfish
• Slender whiting
• Gilded goatfish
• Xenisthmus balius – a species of fish from the “wriggler” family

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The Red Sea

Lying between Africa and Asia, this sea water inlet covers an area of 438,000 square kilometers (169,100 square miles) with its widest point measuring 355 km (220.6 mi).

This sea has shallow shelves which is most notable at 490 meters (1,608 ft) with the Suakin Trough maxing out at about 3,040 meters (9,970 ft).

With such depths, the Red Sea is going to get “parted” in 3 groups – Reef Fish of the Red Sea, Deep Water Fish of the Red Sea, and Sharks in the Red Sea.

Reef Fish of the Red Sea

• Surgeonfishes, Tangs, and Unicornfishes
• Bonefishes
• Frogfishes – members of the Anglerfish family
• Cardinalfishes
• Lefteye flounder
• Butterflyfishes
• Herring
• Rays and stingrays
• Goby species
• Soldierfish and Squirrelfish
• Wrasse
• Emperor species
• Mullets
• Goatfish
• Angelfish
• Damselfish and Damsels
• Parrotfish
• Scorpionfish

Deep Water Fish of the Red Sea

There are 3 main species – Bathydemersal, Bathypelagic and Benthopelagic – with approximately 42 varieties of fish.

“Bathydemersal refers to demersal fish which live at depths greater than 200 meters” and there are many types of fish that call this open water home.

They include:

• Glowbelly
• Sharpnose tongue sole
• Sharpnose sevengill shark
• Eels
• Sharptooth sea bass

The next section of deep ocean, 1,000 – 4,000 meters below the water’s surface, is the bathypelagic zone and its fishes include:

• Barbled dragonfishes
• Skinnycheek lanternfish
• Sloane’s viperfish
• Deep-sea hatchetfishes
• Slender snipe eel
• Gunther’s boafish

The benthopelagic zone encompasses the bottom of the ocean floor, and its fish species can be described with these 5 body types:

1. Bottom rovers – designed to suck plant and animal matter from the bottom, some examples include: catfish, armored catfish, and sturgeon
2. Bottom clingers – small fish with flattened heads that cling to the bottom include gobies and clingfishes.
3. Bottom hiders – similar to bottom clingers, except they don’t cling, they hide under rocks or in crevices. Many blennies are in the category.
4. Flatfish – being exactly as described, these flatfish include the flounder (which has both eyes on one side) and skates and rays (which are dorsoventrally)
5. Rattails – have large pointy-snouted heads, large pectoral fins, and the body tapers into a rat-like tail. Grenadiers, viviparous brotulas and chimaeras.

Sharks of the Red Sea

When it comes to sharks, the list is not exhaustive. The sharks of the Red Sea are no different with 44 species of shark found within its coastal waters.

Because there are a plethora of species, this list will be categorized further.

The species are:

• Bathydemersal – Sharpnose sevengill shark, Bigeye houndshark, Starspotted smooth hound shark
• Benthopelagic – Milk shark
• Demersal – Sliteye shark, Snaggletooth shark, Arabian smooth hound shark
• Pelagic – Common thresher, Hooktooth shark, Whale shark
• Reef-associated – Pelagic thresher, Silvertip shark, Bignose shark, Grey reef shark, Spinner shark, Silky shark, Bull shark, Blacktip shark, Shipwreck shark, Blacktip reef shark, Dusky shark, Sandbar shark, Spottail shark, Tiger shark, Sicklefin lemon shark, Whitetip reef shark, Tawny nurse shark, Shortfin mako shark, Sand tiger shark, Scalloped hammerhead shark, Great hammerhead shark, Smooth hammerhead shark, Zebra shark

OK, I interupt this part of my article for a question: If you have been entertained by the photo-links that are provided for some of the fish species, what do you see when you look at the Sicklefin lemon shark?

This is what I see:

Now, back to this very informative article!

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Sri Lanka

This island country in South Asia is southwest of the Bay of Bengal and southeast of the Arabian Sea.

The varieties surrounding this island are:

• Spotted sardine
• Amphiprion nigripes is a member of the Clownfish family
• Green panchax
• Barb – Martenstyn’s barb, Cherry barb, Long-snouted barb, Ticto barb
• Sicklefin weasel shark
• Masked triggerfish
• Disco blenny
• Yellowfin angelfish
• Phantom bannerfish
• Lipstick goby

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Western Australia

The Indian ocean is crucial to Australia with trading globally making up half of the world’s container traffic. It is also estimated that 40% of the world’s off-shore oil production comes from the Indian ocean.

Underneath the surface, and between ocean oil derricks and rigs, reside many species of fish such as:

• Catshark – Australian blackspotted catshark, Banded sand catshark, Bighead catshark, Rusty catshark, Slender sawtail catshark, Speckled catshark, Variegated catshark
• Stingaree – Brown stingaree, Circular stingaree, Mitotic stingaree, Patchwork stingaree, Striped stingaree, Yellow shovelnose stingaree, Western shovelnose stingaree, Masked stingaree
• Wobbegong – Dwarf spotted wobbegong, Floral banded wobbegong, Spotted wobbegong
• Shark – Australian grey smooth-hound shark, Elongate carpet shark, Ginger carpetshark, Sickfin houndshark, Western angelshark, Western spotted gummy shark
• Seahorse – Ruby seadragon, Tiger snout seahorse
• Truncate butterflyfish
• Western beaked butterflyfish
• Paxton’s toadfish

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Final Thoughts

The varieties of fish living in these waters vary, not only in colour and size, but at depths people can only access by remote-controlled vehicles or submersibles.

The Java Trench has a maximum depth of 7,258 meters (23,812 ft.) and some interesting creatures have been spotted. A new species of hadal snailfish was observed on the bottom, as well as a sea squirt, called an ascidian.

Regardless of the depth, the waters of the Indian ocean host over 1200 species of unique and diverse fish. Whether it’s observing whilst snorkelling, testing your luck with fishing legally, or watching via a documentary, there are fish for everyone.

On a side note, we know how important these Ocean waters are for hosting many of these amazing species to survive, but have you ever stopped to wonder how imortant it is for humans to have water?

Have a read on this article: Why Water is Important in our Life!

Until then, feel free to comment below your favourite Indian Ocean fish Species.

Earth is Heart!