In 2008, the IUCN assessed 892 warm-water coral species and determined approximately one-third were at risk of extinction. That number is rising.

Conservation status for warm-water reef-building corals was analysed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

New research reveals a third of Australia’s freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction. That means 35 species should be added to the national list of 63 threatened species, bringing the total to 98.

Almost half of all warm-water species of coral are threatened with extinction -- and climate change is the chief culprit, a new report said on Wednesday.