The Census of Marine Life reveals that a large range of aquatic life is found in waters that envelop countries such as Australia and Japan. Crustaceans like crabs, crayfish, lobsters and shrimp are the most widespread group found in the world's oceans.

The information was unveiled in a string of articles that came out in the open access journal PLoS ONE, on Monday. The report is a result of the hardwork put in by over 360 scientists, who listed species from 25 diverse areas, which varied from tropical and temperate waters to the oceans of the Arctic and Antarctic. It is said that it took almost a decade for the scientists to document this information.

In a press release on August 2, Census officials said, "Australian and Japanese waters, which each feature almost 33,000 forms of life that have earned the status of 'species' and thus a scientific name such as Carcharodon carcharias, a. k. a. the great white shark, are by far the most biodiverse". It also disclosed that the Mediterranean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, which are close to China, were among the top five most assorted regions.

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington DC has organised the Census of Marine Life. It believes that with the help of this listing, some of the biggest environmental queries regarding loss of habitat, pollution, overfishing, et al. might be easy to comprehend.