Fauna of Ireland - Aquatic

Aquatic

Ireland has 375 fish species in its coastal waters and 40 freshwater species in its rivers and lakes. Most of these are pelagic. There are many aquatic mammals too, such as bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, and harbour porpoises. Sea turtles are also common off the western seaboard, and the walrus has also been found around the Irish coasts, but is very rare with only a handful of sightings. The cool, temperate waters around Ireland contain a huge variety of marine invertebrates Some of this diversity can be observed in tide pools.

There are 24 species of cetaceans and five species of sea turtles have been recorded in Irish waters. The giant squid has been recorded on five occasions

The Porcupine Abyssal Plain which has an average Depth of 4,774 m is on the continental margin

southwest of Ireland. It is the habitat for many deep sea fish and was first investigated in the summers of 1868 and 1869 by Charles Wyville Thomsons H.M.S. Porcupine expedition. Other notable fish include the Basking Shark, Ocean Sunfish, Conger Eel, Hagfish,

Boarfish (Capros aper), Large-eyed rabbitfish, Lumpsucker, Cuckoo wrasse, and the Thresher Shark.

In a study of the marine fauna of the Celtic Sea based on 61 beam trawl catches, the Common Dragonet and the hermit crab Pagurus prideaux were the most ubiquitous species.

The aquatic insect fauna is listed by Ashe et al.