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.
Silver Arowana
A large, elongated freshwater fish with metallic silver scales and an upturned mouth, famous for leaping from the water surface to snatch insects and small prey.
freshwater
Chinese Algae Eater
An elongated Southeast Asian freshwater fish with a specialized sucker mouth used to graze algae from rocks, becoming increasingly territorial as it matures.
freshwater
Harlequin Rasbora
A small, deep-bodied freshwater fish with a coppery-orange body and a distinctive black triangular patch covering the rear half, native to the blackwater streams of Southeast Asia.
freshwater
Chinese Paddlefish
The Chinese paddlefish was a giant, sword-snouted freshwater fish once found in the Yangtze River, declared extinct in the early 2020s after decades of decline.
freshwater
Bichir
The bichir is a primitive, air-breathing freshwater fish of African rivers and swamps, genus Polypterus, known for its snake-like armored body and spiny dorsal finlets.
freshwater
Goldfish
A hardy freshwater fish domesticated from the wild Prussian carp, prized worldwide as an ornamental pond and aquarium species in many color forms.
freshwater
Common Roach
A widespread European freshwater fish with a silvery body and distinctive red-orange fins, forming large shoals in slow rivers, lakes, and canals.
freshwater
Arapaima
One of the largest freshwater fish in the world, this massive Amazonian species has thick armor-like scales and must surface periodically to breathe air.
freshwater
Silver Bream
A silvery European freshwater fish with notably large, protruding eyes, often confused with young Common Bream but distinguished by its larger scales.
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
Least Brook Lamprey
The least brook lamprey is one of the smallest lamprey species in North America, a non-parasitic freshwater fish found in small streams of the central and southeastern United States.
freshwater
Clown Loach
A brightly colored, boldly striped Indonesian freshwater fish popular in aquariums, notable for its social, playful behavior and slow growth to a surprisingly large adult size.
freshwater
Brook Silverside
A slender, nearly translucent freshwater fish of eastern North American lakes and rivers, known for its needle-like beak and habit of skipping across the water's surface.
freshwater
African Lungfish
An eel-like freshwater fish capable of breathing air and surviving months buried in dried mud during droughts, one of the most drought-resistant vertebrates known.
freshwater
Cardinal Tetra
A tiny, jewel-toned freshwater fish with an iridescent blue stripe running the length of its body above a vivid red stripe below, native to the blackwater tributaries of the Amazon.
freshwater
Purple Spotted Gudgeon
A stocky, olive-brown Australian freshwater fish covered in scattered iridescent purple-blue spots, favoring weedy, slow-moving streams and lagoons.
freshwater
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
Mahseer
A powerful, large-scaled carp of fast Himalayan rivers, the golden mahseer is prized as one of the hardest-fighting freshwater fish, with a thick, muscular body built for holding in strong current.
freshwater
Carp
A heavy-bodied freshwater fish with large, coarse scales, two pairs of barbels near its mouth, and a highly adaptable, bottom-foraging lifestyle found across much of the world.
freshwater
White Sturgeon
The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in North America, an armored, long-snouted giant found in Pacific coast rivers from California to British Columbia.
freshwater
Sterlet
The sterlet is the smallest widespread sturgeon species, a slender freshwater fish of Ponto-Caspian rivers known for its long, thin, upturned snout with fringed barbels.
freshwater
Boeseman's Rainbowfish
Boeseman's Rainbowfish is a vividly two-toned freshwater fish from New Guinea, with a blue-violet front half and a fiery orange-yellow rear half.
freshwater
Longnose Gar
A slender, torpedo-shaped freshwater fish with an extremely long, narrow, tooth-lined snout, easily recognized among North American fish by its needle-like jaws.
freshwater
Bowfin
A hardy, ancient freshwater fish with a long undulating dorsal fin and the ability to gulp air, often called a living fossil for its unchanged lineage of millions of years.
freshwater