Biodiversity concerns include consideration of species richness (i. e., the number of species in a community). The table below shows the species richness among groups of coastal and open ocean
marine animal groups, as well as the average sea surface temperatures experienced by each group.
Species Richness Sea Surface
Species Group
(of species) Temperature (°C)
Coastal species
Coastal fishes
9,713
10.7
Non-oceanic sharks
480
7.1
Non-squid cephalopods (octopi, etc.)
122
7.1
Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, walruses)
36
- 10,0
Corals
794
7.7
Oceanic species
Tunas and billfishes
12
70
Oceanic sharks
27
11.8
Squids
85
4.0
Cetaceans (whales, dolphins)
81
6.6
Euphausiids (krill, small crustaceans)
86
6.6
Species richness and sea surface temperature are positively correlated for both
coastal and oceanic species.