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.
Corydoras Catfish
A small, armored South American catfish genus known for its bottom-dwelling, social schooling habits and distinctive bony body plates instead of scales.
freshwater
Boxfish
A rigid, box-shaped Indo-Pacific reef fish encased in fused bony plates; juveniles are bright yellow with black spots, dulling to olive-grey tones as adults.
reef
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.
reefSeamoth
A small, armor-plated bottom-dweller with wing-like pectoral fins, the Seamoth crawls across sandy Indo-Pacific seafloors using its fins almost like legs.
saltwater
Gulf Menhaden
A deep-bodied, oily-scaled herring relative that forms enormous schools in Gulf of Mexico estuaries, playing a major role as a forage fish in coastal food webs.
brackish
Corydoras
A small, armored bottom-dwelling catfish native to South American streams, Corydoras species are recognized by their rows of bony plates, paired barbels, and constant substrate-sifting behavior in search of food.
freshwater
Brown Surgeonfish
A small, plain brown Indo-Pacific tang that is nonetheless one of the most abundant algae-grazing reef fish, playing a key role in controlling reef algal growth.
reef
Pigfish
A grunt of Atlantic and Gulf coast estuaries, marked by diagonal rows of small blue and gold spots and named for its pig-like grunting sound.
brackish
Reef Croaker
A coppery-golden drum associated with Caribbean coral reefs, unusual among croakers for its strong reef affinity rather than open sand or mud habitat.
reef
Sarpa Salpa
The sarpa salpa, or salema porgy, is a silvery sparid with golden stripes that grazes on algae over Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic reefs and seagrass beds.
reef
Midas Cichlid
A large, variably colored Central American cichlid, ranging from mottled gray to solid gold-orange, known for its bold and often combative nature.
freshwater
Tiger Barb
A small, deep-bodied freshwater fish marked with four bold black vertical bars across a golden-orange body, often seen darting energetically in tight schools.
freshwater
Koi
Ornamental color varieties of the Amur carp, selectively bred in Japan for centuries into hundreds of red, white, black, and gold patterns kept in decorative ponds worldwide.
freshwater
Rudd
A deep-bodied European cyprinid known for brassy-gold flanks and vivid orange-red fins, the rudd frequents weedy lakes and slow rivers, feeding near the surface on insects and plants.
freshwater
Eastern Rainbowfish
A widespread eastern Australian subspecies of the splendid rainbowfish complex, showing blue-green to golden flanks and yellow-orange fins along coastal Queensland rivers.
freshwater
Yellow Perch
A golden-yellow freshwater fish marked by dark vertical bars and orange-tinged fins, native to lakes and slow-moving rivers across North America. It is one of the most abundant and widely recognized panfish species.
freshwater