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.
Blood Parrot Cichlid
A rounded, vivid orange-red hybrid cichlid recognized by its permanently small, beak-like mouth and stubby, rounded fins.
freshwater
Buffalo Head Cichlid
A stocky, bottom-dwelling cichlid from the fast rapids of the Congo River, the buffalo head cichlid is named for the pronounced fatty hump that develops on the forehead of mature males.
freshwater
Electric Yellow Cichlid
A vividly yellow mbuna cichlid endemic to Lake Malawi's rocky shorelines, popular in aquariums for its bright, almost uniform coloration and relatively peaceful temperament.
freshwater
Orange-lined Triggerfish
The Orange-lined Triggerfish is a dark green triggerfish covered in bold curving orange stripes, one of the most vividly patterned fish on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Round Ribbontail Ray
One of the largest reef-associated stingrays, recognized by its dark blotchy pattern and thick tail, commonly seen resting on sand patches near coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Uaru
A large, deep-bodied Amazonian cichlid known for a dramatic color change with age, from a striped juvenile pattern to a mottled brown adult, and for a rare parenting behavior in which parents feed their fry a body-slime secretion.
freshwater
Ornate Butterflyfish
A showy Indo-Pacific butterflyfish with diagonal orange stripes across a white body and black-and-yellow face bands.
reef
Zebra Mbuna
One of the most iconic Lake Malawi cichlids, the zebra mbuna is highly variable in color across populations but typically shows bold barring, and it forms the basis for one of the aquarium hobby's most popular mbuna groups.
freshwater
Ornate Bichir
A striking Central African freshwater fish with an eel-like body covered in an intricate leopard-spot network pattern and a row of spiny finlets along its back.
freshwater
Frontosa
A striking striped cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, notable for the bulging cranial hump adult males develop above their eyes.
freshwater
Porcupinefish
A spine-covered, inflatable reef fish found in warm seas worldwide; nocturnal and slow-moving, it shelters in reef crevices by day and forages for hard-shelled prey at night.
reef
Jack Dempsey
A robust Central American cichlid named after a boxing champion for its feisty temperament, known for iridescent blue-green speckling that develops as it matures.
freshwater
Ocellate River Stingray
A striking South American freshwater stingray with bold eyespot-like rings across its disc, common in the Amazon and Paraná river basins and popular in the aquarium trade.
freshwater
Oscar
A large, intelligent South American cichlid known for its bold personality, striking mottled coloration, and a dark false eyespot near the base of its tail.
freshwater
Ornate Ghost Pipefish
The ornate ghost pipefish is a strikingly patterned reef fish covered in frilly skin extensions that let it blend seamlessly with crinoids and soft corals. It is one of the most photographed of the ghost pipefish species.
reef
Tanganyika Goby
A small, goby-shaped cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika's rocky shallows, grazing algae from wave-washed rocks and instantly recognizable by its blunt head and bottom-hugging posture.
freshwater
Kribensis
A small, colorful West African dwarf cichlid best known for the vivid magenta belly females display, especially during courtship.
freshwater
Green Chromide
A deep-bodied cichlid from South Asian estuaries, olive-green with rows of shimmering pearly spots along its flanks. It is one of the largest brackish-water cichlids and an important species in coastal lagoon ecosystems.
brackishFlowerhorn
A vividly colored, artificially bred cichlid hybrid famous for its bulbous head hump and bold markings, with no wild ancestral population.
freshwater
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
Green Terror
A robust, iridescent-green South American cichlid whose bold turquoise spangling and feisty temperament earned it its combative common name.
freshwater
Diamond Goby
A slender, sand-sifting goby with rows of orange spots, prized for cleaning aquarium sand beds. Found on shallow lagoon flats throughout the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Parkinson's Rainbowfish
A large, robust rainbowfish from the eastern rivers of Papua New Guinea, with mature males displaying a striking golden-orange rear half contrasting with a bluish-silver front.
freshwater
Percula Clownfish
A bright orange anemonefish with three bold white bars outlined in black, famous for its symbiotic partnership with sea anemones on western Pacific reefs.
reef