Animals · Ranked by top speed

Fastest Fish & Sharks in the World (2026)

This list mixes methods, and the order follows that number. Svendsen and colleagues, Biology Open 2016, estimated burst speed from muscle-twitch data. They say a sailfish at 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), a barracuda at 6.2, a little tunny at 5.6, and a dorado at 4.0. Those are point estimates. The uncertainties stay in the notes. None of those four is a logged swim.

10 rankedA source on every row

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The sailfish leads this list, at about 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), an estimate.

Top speed

Burst speed in meters per second. A Svendsen figure is a muscle-contraction estimate. The great white is a tailbeat estimate. The other sharks and the bluefin and marlin are speedometer or bio-logger bursts. The list sorts that number.

Sailfish 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s), barracuda 6.2, little tunny 5.6 and dorado 4.0 are point estimates. The paper's plus-or-minus range is extra detail, not a second row.
The great white is 15.0 mph (6.7 m/s), estimated from tailbeat frequency. Waller reprints 15.0 mph (6.70 m/s) and labels it a speedometer. The primary paper is the one that counts.
Logged bursts: shortfin mako 11.2 mph (5.02 m/s), oceanic whitetip 4.6, Atlantic bluefin 2.5, blue marlin 2.2, blue shark 2.0. A caged juvenile tuna is not a separate figure.

What the labels mean

Official: Ratified by a governing body such as the FIA, World Athletics or Guinness World Records.
Verified: Independently measured and published, for example in a peer-reviewed study or with certified timing.
Claimed: Stated by a manufacturer, owner or publication without independent timing.
Estimated: Calculated or approximated rather than directly timed.
Disputed: Contested by experts or contradicted by other evidence.

How we verify every figure

Speed race

See the top two side by side at true relative speed, over 100 m or any distance.

Race #1 vs #2

The lineup · 10 on file

Meet the fish & sharks

One card per entry, with its headline figure and where it ranks.

Ranked by top speed