Regions are freshwater biogeographic units — the drainage basins and lake systems that shape where fish evolved — not political maps. A fish whose range spans a boundary appears under each region it reaches. Grounded in the FEOW bioregions and standard freshwater biogeography.
Africa · 4,474 fish
- West Africa612 speciesThe Upper- and Lower-Guinea coasts and the western Sudanian savanna — from Senegal to Cameroon.
- Congo & Central Africa1,163 speciesThe vast Congo Basin and the Lower-Guinea rivers of Gabon and the Congos.
- East Africa & the Rift Lakes1,693 speciesThe Great Rift lakes — Tanganyika, Malawi, Victoria — and the rivers of the East African highlands.
- Southern Africa790 speciesThe Zambezi, Okavango, Limpopo and Cape rivers south of the equator.
- Nile & North Africa150 speciesThe Nile, the Sahel and the Maghreb — the rivers of the Sahara's margins.
- Madagascar & Indian Ocean66 speciesThe endemic freshwater fauna of Madagascar and the western Indian Ocean islands.
South America · 5,813 fish
- Amazon Basin2,626 speciesThe world's largest river basin — the Rio Negro, Solimões, Madeira, Xingu and Tapajós.
- Orinoco & Northern South America987 speciesThe Orinoco Llanos, the Maracaibo basin and the Caribbean-slope rivers of Colombia and Venezuela.
- The Guianas603 speciesThe Essequibo, Corantijn, Maroni and Oyapock — the rivers of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
- Paraná–La Plata & the Southern Cone890 speciesThe Paraná, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Pantanal — the La Plata basin of Brazil's south, Argentina and Paraguay.
- Eastern Brazil & the Atlantic Coast528 speciesThe São Francisco and the Atlantic Forest coastal rivers of eastern Brazil.
- Andes & Pacific Slope176 speciesThe high Andean lakes and the Pacific-draining rivers from Colombia to Chile.
- Patagonia3 speciesThe cold, sparse rivers and lakes of southern Argentina and Chile.
North & Central America · 994 fish
Asia · 3,488 fish
- South Asia610 speciesThe Indian subcontinent — the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.
- Southeast Asia (Mainland)919 speciesThe Mekong, Chao Phraya, Salween and Irrawaddy of Indochina.
- Sundaland & Maritime Southeast Asia932 speciesThe blackwater rivers and peat swamps of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Malay Peninsula.
- East Asia714 speciesChina, Japan, Korea and Taiwan — the Yangtze, Pearl and Amur rivers.
- West & Central Asia313 speciesThe Middle East, the Caucasus and the Aral–Caspian basins of Central Asia.
Europe · 274 fish
Australasia & Oceania · 858 fish
15,901 region records across 6 continents. Counts sum to more than the atlas total because a wide-ranging fish is listed under every region it lives in. Prefer to browse by the water itself? Explore the waters → · Fish by water & size →
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