There is no defensible published global count of carnivorous fish species in the sources available. FishBase reported 36,535 fish species in its February 2026 database statistics, but that is its total finfish count—not a count of carnivores. The answer depends on how “carnivorous” is defined and applied to species.
Why there is no single global count
“Carnivorous” can describe a fish that eats any animal prey, one whose diet is dominated by animal prey, or one assigned a particular trophic position. Those definitions can produce different totals. FishBase estimates trophic position using diet composition and the trophic levels of the foods eaten; trophic position is not itself a simple carnivore label. FishBase’s explanation of its ecology data does not establish a universal threshold for a worldwide carnivore census.
A reproducible count would need to specify how much animal prey qualifies, whether it classifies a species across its range or particular populations, and whether juveniles and adults are treated separately. The sources cited here do not provide one shared rule or a global tally using such a rule.
What the published fish totals do—and do not—tell us
| Figure | Scope and basis | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| 36,535 species | FishBase database statistics, February 2026 | FishBase’s overall finfish total, not carnivorous species. FishBase covers information including taxonomy, biology, trophic ecology, life history, and uses. FishBase |
| 17,762 species | United Nations World Ocean Assessment II, published 2021, using WoRMS taxonomic validity from 2019 | A marine-only baseline covering bony fishes, sharks and rays, chimaeras, and coelacanths—not all freshwater and marine fishes, and not carnivores. World Ocean Assessment II, Chapter 6C |
These figures have different dates, taxonomic bases, and geographic scopes. Neither can be converted into a carnivorous-species estimate, and they should not be subtracted from one another.
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Fish diets do not fit one simple category
Examples from aquaculture illustrate the variety of feeding types among fishes, but they are not a census of all fish species. FAO material identifies carps, barbs, tilapia, and pacu as lower-trophic-level farmed examples, and salmon, eel, and snakehead as highly carnivorous examples. It also describes marine finfish farming as tending toward carnivorous species while noting omnivorous and herbivorous exceptions, including mullet, scats, and rabbitfish. FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018; FAO, The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
FishBase describes itself as “a global biodiversity information system on finfishes.” Its February 2026 total is a database snapshot and may change as its coverage is maintained; it should not be mistaken for a feeding-category count. FishBase
Quick Recap
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