Fish Identifier

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.

Foxface Rabbitfish

Foxface Rabbitfish

The Foxface Rabbitfish has a bright yellow body, a distinctive black-and-white striped face, and venomous dorsal spines, and is often seen grazing algae on reef flats in pairs.

reef
Fangtooth Moray

Fangtooth Moray

A slender reef-dwelling moray with strongly curved jaws lined with long, protruding fangs that prevent the mouth from ever fully closing, giving it a permanently menacing gape.

reef
Clown Triggerfish

Clown Triggerfish

An unmistakable black-bodied Indo-Pacific triggerfish covered in bold white spots below, with yellow-orange lips; wedges into reef crevices using a locking dorsal spine.

reef
Bluespotted Rabbitfish

Bluespotted Rabbitfish

A vividly colored rabbitfish with a yellow-orange body scattered with small electric-blue spots, commonly seen grazing coral-rich reef flats across the Indo-Pacific.

reef
Spanish Grunt

Spanish Grunt

The Spanish grunt is a deep-bodied, silvery-yellow reef grunt of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, marked by dark scale rows and a large mouth used to crush hard-shelled prey.

reef
Rock Beauty Angelfish

Rock Beauty Angelfish

A vividly two-toned Caribbean angelfish with a bright yellow front half, a black rear body, and blue-edged fins, commonly seen darting among reef crevices and ledges.

reef
Sand Tiger Shark

Sand Tiger Shark

A bulky, fierce-looking but generally docile shark with protruding rows of needle-like teeth, commonly seen hovering near shipwrecks and reef caves along temperate and subtropical coastlines.

cartilaginous
Flame Angelfish

Flame Angelfish

The Flame Angelfish is a small, vivid orange-red dwarf angelfish marked with black vertical bars and blue-tipped fins, commonly seen darting among reef crevices in the Pacific.

reef
Zebra Shark

Zebra Shark

A slender, docile reef shark whose striped juveniles transform into leopard-like spotted adults, unmistakable due to its very long tail.

reef
Tiger Tail Seahorse

Tiger Tail Seahorse

A Southeast Asian reef seahorse easily recognized by the bold alternating light and dark stripes banding its prehensile tail, resembling a tiger's pattern.

reef
Peacock Grouper

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
Rainbow Parrotfish

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
Hedgehog Seahorse

Hedgehog Seahorse

One of the spiniest seahorses, the Hedgehog Seahorse is covered in numerous sharp, elongated body spines that give it a distinctly bristled silhouette against reef rubble.

reef
Azure Damselfish

Azure Damselfish

A small, vividly blue damselfish common on Indo-Pacific reef flats and lagoons, easily spotted flitting among coral rubble in loose groups.

reef
Whitespotted Puffer

Whitespotted Puffer

A common Indo-Pacific reef puffer with a dark olive-brown body scattered with small white spots and distinctive dark rings around its eyes, gills, and pectoral fin bases.

reef
Threadfin Trevally

Threadfin Trevally

An Indo-Pacific jack whose juveniles trail extraordinarily long thread-like fins, maturing into deep-bodied, steep-headed adults over sandy coastal bottoms and reef edges.

reef
Red Lionfish

Red Lionfish

Instantly recognizable for its fan-like, striped fins and venomous spines, the red lionfish is a native Indo-Pacific reef predator that has become a damaging invasive species in the Western Atlantic.

reef
Slender Giant Moray

Slender Giant Moray

The longest of all moray eel species, this extremely elongated, olive-grey eel patrols muddy estuaries and mangrove channels across the Indo-Pacific rather than typical coral reef.

brackish
Achilles Tang

Achilles Tang

A striking black surgeonfish with a bold orange-red teardrop marking near its tail and matching scalpel-like tail spine. It inhabits high-surf reef zones across the Pacific.

reef
Yellow-edged Moray

Yellow-edged Moray

One of the largest reef morays, marked with an intricate maze-like pattern and a bright yellow-edged dorsal fin, hiding by day in rocky and coral crevices.

reef
Valentini Puffer

Valentini Puffer

The Valentini Puffer is a small reef puffer marked by two bold black saddle patches on a white-and-tan body, a pattern also mimicked by an unrelated filefish.

reef
Spotted Garden Eel

Spotted Garden Eel

The Spotted Garden Eel lives in dense colonies of speckled, burrow-dwelling eels on sandy reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific, feeding on drifting plankton.

reef
Speckled Moray

Speckled Moray

A pale, densely speckled moray of Indo-Pacific reef flats, its white to cream body peppered with small black spots that thicken toward the tail.

reef
Blackspotted Puffer

Blackspotted Puffer

The Blackspotted Puffer, also called the dog-faced puffer, is a small reef pufferfish with a gray, yellow, or blue body scattered with a few large dark spots.

reef