Fish Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ fish species — freshwater, saltwater, reef, and pelagic — with habitat, size, diet, behavior, and how to tell them apart.
Rainbow Parrotfish
The largest parrotfish in the Caribbean, displaying a striking blend of blue-green and orange coloration and playing a key role in reef sand production and algae control.
reef
Porkfish
A bright yellow Caribbean grunt marked by two bold black diagonal stripes across the head, forming large schools that shelter near reef structure by day.
reef
Pygmy Seahorse
A tiny, near-invisible seahorse that lives its entire life camouflaged on gorgonian sea fans in the Coral Triangle, its bulbous skin tubercles mimicking the coral's polyps exactly.
reef
Raccoon Butterflyfish
A round, orange-and-white butterflyfish with a black mask-like eye band, named for its raccoon-like facial markings.
reef
Purple Tang
A vivid violet surgeonfish with a contrasting yellow tail, native to Red Sea coral reefs.
reef
Pyjama Cardinalfish
A small, boldly patterned reef fish with a yellow-spotted rear half, a dark bar through the eye, and large eyes suited to nocturnal feeding. It shelters among coral branches and sea urchin spines by day.
reef
Moray Eel
A long, serpentine reef predator that hides in crevices by day, identified by its scaleless body, continuous fin along the back, and powerful jaws with a rarely seen second set of pharyngeal jaws.
reef
Marbled Grouper
The marbled grouper is an uncommon western Atlantic reef fish with a distinctive dark, marbled or streaked pattern that gives way to a dark 'charcoal' belly, often seen near caves and drop-offs.
reef
Picasso Triggerfish
A boldly patterned triggerfish with geometric blue, yellow, and black markings, common on shallow Indo-Pacific reef flats.
reef
Pacific Red Snapper
A bright reddish-pink snapper of rocky reefs along the Eastern Pacific coast from Mexico to Peru, closely resembling its Atlantic namesake but found in a different ocean.
reef
Pennant Coralfish
A black-and-white butterflyfish relative known for its long pennant-like dorsal filament, often mistaken for a juvenile Moorish idol as it drifts in loose reef aggregations.
reef
Majestic Angelfish
A boldly patterned western-Pacific angelfish with orange body, blue-edged bands, and a blue lower body.
reef
Lyretail Anthias
The lyretail anthias is a small, vividly orange-pink reef fish that forms large, colorful schools over coral drop-offs, with males sporting an elongated lyre-shaped tail.
reef
Pajama Cardinalfish
A small, egg-shaped reef fish with a yellow-striped head and red-spotted rear body, resembling patterned sleepwear.
reef
Peacock Grouper
The peacock grouper is a dark-bodied reef predator patterned with bright blue spots and pale bars, native to the Indo-Pacific and introduced to Hawaiian waters.
reef
Palette Surgeonfish
The vivid blue-and-black Blue Tang, famous for its palette-shaped markings and bright yellow tail; an Indo-Pacific coral reef species that feeds mainly on drifting plankton rather than algae.
reef
Napoleon Wrasse
A massive, thick-lipped coral reef wrasse with a distinctive bulging forehead hump and blue-green maze-like facial markings, among the largest reef fish in the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Koran Angelfish
A large Indo-Pacific angelfish whose adults show a blue-green body scattered with pearly blue spots and lines, while striking juveniles display concentric blue and white circular bands.
reef
Orangespine Unicornfish
A hornless unicornfish marked by a black eye mask, yellow dorsal stripe, and vivid orange blade-like spines at the tail base; common on shallow Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Niger Triggerfish
A deep blue-green triggerfish with reddish teeth and a trailing crescent tail, often seen feeding on plankton above reef slopes.
reef
Kole Tang
A compact, striped surgeonfish with a golden eye-ring, using bristle-like teeth to sweep detritus from reef rock.
reef
Ocellaris Clownfish
A small orange-and-white clownfish that lives in a mutualistic partnership with sea anemones on Indo-Pacific reefs. It is one of the most familiar reef fish species due to its bright coloring and anemone-dwelling behavior.
reef
Moorish Idol
An unmistakable disc-shaped reef fish with bold black-white-yellow bands and a dramatically long trailing dorsal fin.
reef
Lemonpeel Angelfish
A small, bright yellow Pacific dwarf angelfish with a blue ring around the eye and blue edging on the fins.
reef
Lionfish
A striking, striped reef predator native to the Indo-Pacific, now a widespread and ecologically disruptive invasive species across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean, easily recognized by its fan-like fins and venomous spines.
reef
Longhorn Cowfish
The Longhorn Cowfish is a boxfish encased in a rigid bony shell, instantly recognizable by the pair of long horns projecting forward above its eyes.
reef
Maroon Clownfish
The largest and most aggressive anemonefish, with a deep maroon body and bold white or gold bars, fiercely guarding its host anemone.
reef
Leopard Coral Grouper
A striking Indo-Pacific reef predator with a reddish-orange body densely covered in small electric-blue spots, giving it a leopard-like pattern.
reef
Leopard Wrasse
A small, strikingly patterned reef wrasse covered in a dense network of dark-edged spots, often seen hovering low over sand near coral heads while foraging for tiny invertebrates.
reef
Neon Damselfish
A small, brilliant iridescent blue damselfish with a touch of yellow on the tail, commonly seen in loose groups over rubble and coral on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Moon Wrasse
A fast-swimming green Indo-Pacific wrasse with pink-magenta facial streaks and a bright yellow crescent-moon tail.
reef
Lined Surgeonfish
A boldly striped blue, black, and yellow tang that fiercely defends algal-turf patches on shallow, wave-exposed reef crests across the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Leafy Seadragon
An extraordinary seahorse relative covered in ornate leaf-shaped appendages, camouflaging almost perfectly among the kelp and seaweed beds of southern Australia.
reef
Naso Tang
A large surgeonfish with bright orange lips and a yellow tail-base marking, grazing algae along Indo-Pacific reef slopes.
reef
Lane Snapper
A small, silvery-pink schooling snapper marked by faint yellow stripes and a black spot near the tail base, common across shallow Western Atlantic reefs and seagrass.
reef
Orangeshoulder Tang
A gray-bodied surgeonfish marked by a bold orange patch behind the gill cover, often seen grazing sandy rubble zones adjacent to Indo-Pacific coral reefs.
reef
Jackknife-fish
A boldly black-and-white striped reef drum with a dramatic, curved dorsal fin that resembles the blade of an open jackknife.
reef
High-hat
A striking black-and-white striped reef drum related to the jackknife-fish, easily recognized by its tall, elongated dorsal fin.
reef
Hi Fin Red Banded Goby
A tiny white goby marked with thin red diagonal bands and a tall, flag-like yellow dorsal fin, seen hovering above its burrow that it shares with a snapping shrimp.
reef
Midnight Parrotfish
A large, dark blue-black Caribbean parrotfish speckled with bright blue-green patches around the head.
reef
Mutton Snapper
A rosy-pink Western Atlantic reef snapper marked by blue eye-lines and a small black spot below the dorsal fin, with elegantly pointed fin tips.
reef
Malabar Grouper
The Malabar grouper is a large, olive-grey Indo-Pacific grouper covered in dark blotches and small pale spots, found across coastal reefs, estuaries, and mangrove-lined coasts.
reef
Nassau Grouper
A stocky Caribbean reef grouper known for its ability to rapidly change color and pattern, from pale to dark barred phases, and for forming large seasonal spawning aggregations now heavily protected.
reef
Horse-eye Jack
A deep-bodied, silvery jack with an oversized eye, commonly seen in large stationary schools around Caribbean and Florida reefs and harbors.
reef
Mandarinfish
A tiny, vividly patterned reef fish covered in a maze-like network of blue, orange, and green, prized as one of the most colorful fish in the ocean.
reef
Longtooth Grouper
A large brownish grouper found from southern Japan to the South China Sea, mottled with faint darker blotches and named for its prominent elongated canine teeth.
reef
Klein's Butterflyfish
A golden-brown Indo-Pacific butterflyfish with a dark eye bar and dusky patches, common on many reefs.
reef
Magnificent Rabbitfish
A striking white rabbitfish patterned with bold black head markings and a black-edged dorsal fin, giving it a panda-like appearance among the more brightly colored reef rabbitfishes.
reef