PORTLAND (AP) – The Gulf of Maine is the home to more than 3,300 marine species, or roughly 1,300 more than scientists thought less than a decade ago, according to a new study.

The Gulf of Maine Register of Marine Species, a census of marine life across the body of water that stretches from southern New England to Nova Scotia, lists 3,317 marine species.

The study, released this week, identifies 733 microscopic plants, 652 kinds of fish, 184 bird species, 32 species of mammals and 14 types of deepwater coral. The overall count is 65 percent higher than previous estimates.

The species range from microscopic algae to whales living in waters from intertidal zones to the deep sea.

The census, which was compiled by researchers from Canada and the University of Southern Maine, aims to document the biodiversity of the Gulf of Maine to better understand the effects of environmental change.

Scientists will use the census to conduct studies on how species interact and gauge changes that are occurring from climate change or other events.

“We regard this as a step toward being able to manage the Gulf of Maine on an ecosystem basis. Each increment of knowledge will enable policy makers to make better decisions,” said Evan Richert, director of the USM’s Gulf of Maine Area Program.

The grant-funded census is a collaboration between USM and the Huntsman Marine Science Center in New Brunswick. It is part of the international Census of Marine Life, which has brought together researchers from 70 nations to study ocean life.

Curators at the marine science center dug through research dating back 100 years to compile the list of species.

Scientists as recently as six years ago thought there were around 2,000 species in the Gulf of Maine, said Lewis Incze, senior scientist with the gulf program. The number is likely to increase as the research continues.

“These include small worms and other organisms living in the soft sediments that cover much of the sea floor and microscopic bacteria and viruses that live throughout the ecosystem,” he said. “While most are invisible to the human eye, they are collectively major players in the web of ocean life.”

The Gulf of Maine comprises an area that ranges from subpolar to temperate conditions, meaning shifts in marine life could serve as harbingers of climate change, Incze said.

“We’re used to assessing impacts on only a part of an ecosystem, like a right whale or deepwater coral, without understanding how the system works as a whole,” he said.