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.
Sand Sole
A northeastern Pacific flatfish identified by long, thread-like free dorsal fin rays at the front of its head, light brown spotted body, and shallow sandy habitat.
saltwater
Lined Seahorse
A medium-sized seahorse of the western Atlantic coast, variably colored from black to bright orange, often marked with fine pale lines on the neck and named for these subtle streaks.
saltwater
Redfish
A coppery-bronze estuarine predator famous for the large black eyespot near its tail, the Redfish is a mainstay of shallow coastal flats along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts.
brackish
Red Drum
The Red Drum is a coppery-bronze coastal fish of the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, best known for the dark eyespot near its tail.
brackish
Tarpon Snook Blenny
A slender, elongated pikeblenny with a pointed snout and torpedo-shaped body, sheltering in abandoned tube-worm holes on sandy reef flats and seagrass beds of the western Atlantic and Caribbean.
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
Tuna
A fast, powerfully built open-ocean fish capable of high-speed sustained swimming, ranging across warm and temperate seas worldwide in large migratory schools.
pelagic
Bristol Bay Sockeye
Bristol Bay sockeye are the world's largest wild sockeye salmon run, turning brilliant red with olive-green heads as they surge from the Bering Sea into Alaska's rivers to spawn.
freshwater
Wobbegong
A superbly camouflaged, flattened bottom-dwelling shark covered in ornate skin markings and fringed barbels that resemble seaweed or coral rubble.
saltwater
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
Seahorse
An unmistakable upright-swimming fish with a horse-like head and curled prehensile tail, notable for males carrying and giving birth to offspring.
reef
Unicornfish
A large gray-brown surgeonfish named for the forward-pointing bony horn projecting from its forehead, an important herbivore grazing tough brown algae on Indo-Pacific reef flats.
reef
Blackbarred Halfbeak
A silvery halfbeak marked with faint dark vertical bars, common over seagrass beds and reef flats across the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Barred Halfbeak
A schooling, seagrass-associated halfbeak of the Indo-Pacific with a long, red-tipped lower jaw and faint dark bars along its silvery flanks.
saltwater
Balloonfish
The balloonfish is a spine-covered porcupinefish that inflates by gulping water when threatened, using its beak-like teeth to crush hard-shelled prey on tropical reefs.
reef
Jaguar Cichlid
A large, powerfully built Central American predator whose irregular black leopard-like blotches over a pale body give it its common name.
freshwater
Clown Knifefish
A knife-shaped Southeast Asian fish with a distinctive row of large black eyespots along its rear body and a long, continuous ventral fin.
freshwater
Cornetfish
An extremely elongated, needle-thin fish with a whip-like tail filament, the Cornetfish hovers near reefs and seagrass, using its long tubular snout to snap up small fish.
reef
Longtail Tuna
A coastal tuna of the Indo-West Pacific with a notably slender, elongated body and a long, low second dorsal fin, often found closer to shore than other tunas.
pelagic
Peacock Cichlid
A brilliantly colored Lake Malawi cichlid whose males flash iridescent blues, oranges, and yellows to attract mates and rivals alike.
freshwater
Florida Gar
A heavily spotted gar endemic to the Florida peninsula, recognized by dark markings covering its head, body, and every fin.
freshwater
Pajama Cardinalfish
A small, egg-shaped reef fish with a yellow-striped head and red-spotted rear body, resembling patterned sleepwear.
reef
Texas Cichlid
The only cichlid native to the United States, this pearly, turquoise-spotted fish thrives in the rivers of Texas and northeastern Mexico.
freshwater
Julii Corydoras
A small, finely spotted armored catfish from coastal Brazil, frequently confused in the trade with the very similar Corydoras trilineatus.
freshwater