We now know almost a quarter of a million marine species Although the oceans are the most explored environments on the planet, we are still only aware of a small fraction of the species that exist in them. Based on the World Register of Marine Species, there are now 240,470 accepted marine species, but this is believed to only be a fraction of the species that exist, and as new creatures are being found every day, we are constantly gaining new insights into how life functions and what it means to be a creature in the ocean.