List of marine fishes of South Africa

This is a list of fishes recorded from the oceans bordering South Africa.

List ordering and taxonomy complies where possible with the current usage in World Register of Marine Species, and may differ from the cited source, as listed citations are primarily for range or existence of records for the region.

Most fish are cold-blooded, their body temperature varying with the surrounding water, though some large active swimmers like white shark and tuna can hold a higher core temperature.

The earliest fish appeared during the Cambrian as small filter feeders; they continued to evolve through the Paleozoic, diversifying into many forms.

The earliest fish with dedicated respiratory gills and paired fins, the ostracoderms, had heavy bony plates that served as protective exoskeletons against invertebrate predators.