List of endangered fishes

As of September 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists 643 endangered fish species.[1] 4.2% of all evaluated fish species are listed as endangered. The IUCN also lists ten fish subspecies as endangered.

•   Extinct in the wild (EW): 6 species
•   Critically endangered (CR): 455 species
•   Endangered (EN): 643 species
•   Vulnerable (VU): 1,245 species
•   Near threatened (NT, LR/cd): 548 species
•   Least concern (LC): 9,131 species
•   Data deficient (DD): 3,191 species

Fish species (IUCN, 2016-2)

• 15,219 extant species have been evaluated
• 12,028 of those are fully assessed[lower-alpha 1]
• 9679 are not threatened at present[lower-alpha 2]
• 2343 to 5534 are threatened[lower-alpha 3]
• 71 to 158 are extinct or extinct in the wild:
  • 65 extinct (EX) species[lower-alpha 4]
  • 6 extinct in the wild (EW)
  • 87 possibly extinct [CR(PE)]
  • 0 possibly extinct in the wild [CR(PEW)]

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1. excludes data deficient evaluations.
2. NT, LR/cd, LC.
3. Threatened comprises CR, EN and VU. Upper estimate additionally includes DD.
4. Chart omits extinct (EX) species

Endangered (EN) species are considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Of the subpopulations of fishes evaluated by the IUCN, 24 species subpopulations have been assessed as endangered.

For a species to be considered endangered by the IUCN it must meet certain quantitative criteria which are designed to classify taxa facing "a very high risk of exintction". An even higher risk is faced by critically endangered species, which meet the quantitative criteria for endangered species. Critically endangered fishes are listed separately. There are 1098 fish species which are endangered or critically endangered.

Additionally 3191 fish species (21% of those evaluated) are listed as data deficient, meaning there is insufficient information for a full assessment of conservation status. As these species typically have small distributions and/or populations, they are intrinsically likely to be threatened, according to the IUCN.[2] While the category of data deficient indicates that no assessment of extinction risk has been made for the taxa, the IUCN notes that it may be appropriate to give them "the same degree of attention as threatened taxa, at least until their status can be assessed."[3]

This is a complete list of endangered fish species and subspecies evaluated by the IUCN. Species and subspecies which have endangered subpopulations (or stocks) are indicated.