The ocean is home to an incredible variety of creatures ranging from the tiniest plankton to massive blue whales. This comprehensive list of sea water animal names brings together well known and lesser-known marine species across all major groups, including fish, mammals, reptiles, mollusks, crustaceans, and more.
Whether you’re a student, researcher, nature enthusiast, or just curious about what lives beneath the waves, this guide gives a clear and categorized overview of 300 sea water animals found in seas around the world.
🐋 Marine Mammals
These warm-blooded animals live in the ocean and surface to breathe air.
Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises
- Blue whale
- Humpback whale
- Fin whale
- Sperm whale
- Orca (killer whale)
- Beluga whale
- Narwhal
- Gray whale
- Minke whale
- Pilot whale
- Bottlenose dolphin
- Common dolphin
- Spinner dolphin
- Risso’s dolphin
- Dall’s porpoise
- Harbor porpoise
Seals and Sea Lions
- Harbor seal
- Gray seal
- Elephant seal
- Leopard seal
- Weddell seal
- Crabeater seal
- Ringed seal
- Hawaiian monk seal
- California sea lion
- Steller sea lion
- South American sea lion
Other Marine Mammals
- Dugong
- Manatee (West Indian)
- Sea otter
🐠 Saltwater Fish
Fish make up the majority of sea life, from reef dwellers to deep-sea predators.
Popular Reef and Coastal Fish
- Clownfish
- Blue tang
- Yellow tang
- Royal gramma
- Moorish idol
- Mandarinfish
- Butterflyfish
- Angelfish
- Wrasse
- Parrotfish
- Goby
- Damselfish
- Anthias
- Hawkfish
Predatory and Deep-sea Fish
- Great white shark
- Tiger shark
- Hammerhead shark
- Mako shark
- Thresher shark
- Bull shark
- Goblin shark
- Whale shark
- Lanternfish
- Fangtooth fish
- Viperfish
- Anglerfish
- Black dragonfish
- Swordfish
- Marlin
- Barracuda
- Moray eel
- Conger eel
Large and Edible Fish
- Tuna
- Yellowfin tuna
- Bluefin tuna
- Mahi-mahi (dorado)
- Wahoo
- Snapper
- Grouper
- Cod
- Halibut
- Flounder
🦐 Crustaceans
Crustaceans have hard exoskeletons and include many edible species.
- Red king crab
- Snow crab
- Blue crab
- Dungeness crab
- Hermit crab
- Fiddler crab
- Coconut crab
- Horseshoe crab
- American lobster
- Spiny lobster
- Slipper lobster
- Mantis shrimp
- Cleaner shrimp
- Peppermint shrimp
- Pistol shrimp
- Barnacle
- Krill
🐚 Mollusks
Mollusks have soft bodies, often protected by shells.
Bivalves and Gastropods
- Giant clam
- Pearl oyster
- Scallop
- Mussel
- Ark clam
- Cockle
- Whelk
- Cone snail
- Nudibranch
- Sea slug
- Abalone
- Cowrie
Cephalopods
- Octopus
- Blue-ringed octopus
- Giant Pacific octopus
- Common cuttlefish
- Flamboyant cuttlefish
- Chambered nautilus
- Caribbean reef squid
- Humboldt squid
🐢 Sea Turtles & Marine Reptiles
These reptiles thrive in warm ocean waters.
- Green sea turtle
- Hawksbill turtle
- Loggerhead turtle
- Leatherback turtle
- Olive ridley turtle
- Kemp’s ridley turtle
- Flatback turtle
- Marine iguana
- Yellow-bellied sea snake
🌐 Cnidarians (Jellyfish, Corals)
Soft-bodied marine animals often with stinging tentacles.
- Moon jellyfish
- Box jellyfish
- Lion’s mane jellyfish
- Portuguese man o’ war
- Sea nettle
- Fire coral
- Brain coral
- Staghorn coral
- Elkhorn coral
- Mushroom coral
- Sea anemone
- Tube anemone
⭐ Echinoderms (Starfish, Sea Urchins)
Radially symmetrical marine animals often found on the sea floor.
- Crown-of-thorns starfish
- Blue sea star
- Sunflower sea star
- Brittle star
- Basket star
- Red sea urchin
- Purple sea urchin
- Sand dollar
- Sea cucumber
- Tiger tail sea cucumber
🐦 Marine Birds (Sea-dependent)
Birds that rely on the ocean for food and breeding.
- Seagull
- Albatross
- Puffin
- Pelican
- Cormorant
- Frigatebird
- Shearwater
- Tern
- Gannet
- Petrel
🐙 Other Notable Sea Creatures
Here’s a diverse collection of other unique ocean dwellers:
- Sea sponge
- Sea pen
- Salp
- Tunicate
- Comb jelly
- Arrow worm
- Sea squirt
- Bryozoan
- Lamprey
- Hagfish
- Blobfish
- Ocean sunfish (mola mola)
- Remora
- Pilot fish
- Cleaner wrasse
- Stonefish
- Frogfish
- Flying fish
- Triggerfish
- Lionfish
- Scorpionfish
- Batfish
- Triplefin
- Archerfish
- Needlefish
- Sand lance
- Rabbitfish
- Surgeonfish
- Tilefish
- Lizardfish
- Snipe eel
- Oarfish
- Ribbonfish
- Glass squid
- Bobtail squid
- Vampire squid
- Blanket octopus
- Pelican eel
- Deep-sea jellyfish
- Hydrothermal vent crab
- Yeti crab
- Dumbo octopus
- Gulper eel
- Hatchetfish
- Barreleye fish
- Tripod fish
- Deep-sea isopod
- Lanternshark
- Cookiecutter shark
- Frilled shark
✅ Remaining Sea Water Animals (201–300)
To complete the full list of 300 sea water animals, here are 100 more diverse marine species grouped for simplicity:
- Blacktip reef shark
- Zebra shark
- Basking shark
- Nurse shark
- Greenland shark
- Angelshark
- Sawfish
- Electric ray
- Torpedo ray
- Cownose ray
- Manta ray
- Devil ray
- Eagle ray
- Stingray
- Blue spotted ray
- Spotted eagle ray
- Oceanic whitetip shark
- Lemon shark
- Coral catshark
- Wedgefish
- Guitar fish
- Atlantic cod
- Pacific halibut
- Sablefish
- Pollock
- Tilefish
- Herring
- Anchovy
- Sardine
- Flying gurnard
- Unicornfish
- Fairy basslet
- Bannerfish
- Cardinalfish
- Lanternshark
- Catfish (saltwater)
- Sea robin
- Stargazer
- Scat fish
- Cobia
- Dogfish
- Escolar
- Opah
- Spadefish
- Black sea bass
- Striped bass
- Hogfish
- Wrasse
- Blenny
- Bluefish
- Drum fish
- Grunt
- Jack crevalle
- Kingfish
- Leatherjacket fish
- Lookdown fish
- Mojarra
- Needlefish
- Permit
- Pompano
- Sculpin
- Sheepshead
- Snapper
- Spotted drum
- Tarpon
- Tripletail
- Wahoo
- Zebra lionfish
- Sea spider
- Plankton
- Copepod
- Amphipod
- Mysid shrimp
- Comb jelly
- Sea walnut
- Glassfish
- Pipefish
- Sea dragon
- Leafy sea dragon
- Weedy sea dragon
- Sand tiger shark
- Arctic cod
- Arctic jellyfish
- Narcomedusae
- Sea lice
- Sea angel
- Sea devil
- Slimehead
- Triplewart seadevil
- Deep-sea coral
- Bioluminescent jellyfish
- Tube worm
- Riftia pachyptila
- Zombie worm
- Hydrozoan
- Fireworm
- Bristle worm
- Spoon worm
- Bearded fireworm
- Marine flatworm
🌟 Conclusion
This sea water animal names list is a rich resource showcasing the variety of life thriving in the world’s oceans. From mighty whales to microscopic plankton, each creature plays a role in the marine ecosystem. Whether you’re studying for school, planning aquarium displays, or simply satisfying your curiosity, this guide offers clarity, completeness, and value no second search needed.
