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.
Salmon
A large anadromous fish that hatches in freshwater rivers, migrates to the ocean to mature, and returns upriver to spawn, prized as an iconic sport fish.
freshwater
Caspian Lamprey
The Caspian lamprey is a parasitic, jawless fish that lives in the brackish Caspian Sea and migrates into tributary rivers of Russia, Iran, and neighboring countries to spawn.
brackish
Atlantic Sturgeon
The Atlantic sturgeon is a large, armored anadromous fish of eastern North America, spending years at sea before returning to coastal rivers to spawn.
brackish
American Eel
The American Eel spends most of its life in North American rivers and estuaries before migrating once to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.
freshwater
Sockeye Salmon
A Pacific salmon renowned for its brilliant crimson spawning coloration and strong dependence on lake habitat during its freshwater juvenile stage.
freshwater
Japanese Eel
The Japanese Eel is an East Asian catadromous fish that migrates from freshwater rivers to offshore Pacific spawning grounds, and is now classified as Endangered.
freshwater
Dog Salmon Herring
Despite the name, this is the chum salmon, nicknamed 'dog salmon' for its prominent canine-like spawning teeth — a true Pacific salmon, not a herring.
saltwater
Spinner Shark
A slender, high-speed coastal shark famous for leaping and spinning out of the water while lunging through schools of baitfish.
saltwater
Southern Bluefin Tuna
A large, deep-bodied tuna of the Southern Hemisphere's open oceans, distinguished by very short pectoral fins and a single spawning ground south of Indonesia.
pelagic
Mekong Giant Catfish
One of the largest freshwater fish on Earth, this critically endangered giant inhabits the deep main channel of the Mekong River and undertakes long spawning migrations.
freshwater
Green Sturgeon
The green sturgeon is the most marine-adapted North American sturgeon, ranging widely along the Pacific coast and entering rivers only occasionally to spawn.
saltwater
California Grunion
A slender coastal fish famous for coming fully ashore on sandy California beaches during nighttime spawning runs timed to spring high tides.
saltwater
River Lamprey
The river lamprey, also known as the lampern, is a small anadromous European lamprey that feeds parasitically on fish in coastal and estuarine waters before migrating into rivers to spawn.
brackish
Pink Salmon
The smallest and most abundant Pacific salmon, notable for its strict two-year life cycle and the pronounced dorsal hump males develop when spawning.
freshwaterBeluga Sturgeon
One of the largest anadromous fish in the world, native to the Caspian and Black Sea basins. It migrates into major rivers like the Volga and Danube to spawn and is critically endangered.
brackish
Lumpfish
Also called the lumpsucker, the Lumpfish is a rounded, scaleless North Atlantic fish that anchors to rocks with a sucker disc, and whose males guard the eggs after spawning.
saltwater
Chinese Sturgeon
The Chinese sturgeon is a critically endangered anadromous fish that spends its adult life in coastal Chinese seas before migrating far up the Yangtze River to spawn.
brackishShort-headed Lamprey
The short-headed lamprey is an anadromous, jawless fish of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, recognized by its notably short head and a marine parasitic phase before spawning in rivers.
brackish
Sea Trout
Sea Trout is the migratory, sea-run form of the brown trout, spending its adult life feeding along European coastlines before returning to rivers to spawn.
saltwaterPouched Lamprey
The pouched lamprey is a jawless, eel-shaped fish named for the fleshy throat pouch that develops in breeding males, migrating from the open ocean into Southern Hemisphere rivers to spawn.
brackish
Kokanee Salmon
Kokanee are a landlocked, non-migratory form of sockeye salmon that spend their entire life in freshwater lakes, turning bright red during their autumn spawning run into tributary streams.
freshwater
Blacktip Shark
A fast, energetic coastal shark named for the black tips on most of its fins, often seen leaping and spinning while chasing schooling fish.
saltwater
White Bass
A deep-bodied, silvery schooling bass with faint horizontal stripes, common in large freshwater lakes and rivers of the central United States, known for its spring spawning runs.
freshwater
Masu Salmon
Masu salmon is the southernmost and westernmost Pacific salmon species, native to Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East, notable for males that can mature and spawn entirely within freshwater.
freshwater