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.
Butterfish
A disc-shaped, silvery schooling fish of the northwestern Atlantic shelf, the Butterfish migrates seasonally between inshore and offshore waters and often shelters near jellyfish as a juvenile.
pelagic
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
Bumblebee Fish
A tiny, boldly banded goby popular in brackish aquariums, named for its wasp-like black-and-yellow stripes.
brackish
Butterfly Splitfin
A striking Mexican livebearer known for its black body, yellow-orange tail band, and unusual reproductive biology shared with other goodeids.
freshwater
Brown Trout
A golden-brown salmonid native to Europe and western Asia, marked by dark and reddish spots along its body, now widely introduced across the globe. It favors cool, clear rivers, streams, and lakes.
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
California Scorpionfish
A mottled reddish-brown scorpionfish of the California coast, camouflaged against rocky and sandy bottoms and equipped with venomous spines along its dorsal fin.
saltwater
California Sheephead
A large sequential-hermaphrodite wrasse of California and Baja kelp forests, with males showing a striking black-and-red pattern and prominent canine teeth used to crush hard-shelled prey.
reef
Candiru
A tiny, translucent Amazonian catfish that feeds by attaching to the gills of larger fish and consuming their blood, one of the few parasitic vertebrates known.
freshwater
Cherry Salmon
The cherry salmon is a Pacific salmon native to East Asia that exists in two forms: a smaller freshwater-resident form called yamame and a larger, silvery sea-run form, both named for the pink cherry-blossom hue of spawning fish.
freshwater
Catfish
A vast, worldwide group of scaleless, whisker-faced bottom-dwelling fish; the channel catfish, one of the most familiar North American species, is shown here as representative.
freshwater
Canary Rockfish
A vivid orange-and-gray rockfish of the Pacific continental shelf, easily recognized by its bright orange fins and mottled orange-and-gray body pattern.
saltwater
Bullhead Catfish
A hardy, whiskered bottom-dweller with a rounded tail and mottled brown skin, thriving in muddy, low-oxygen ponds and slow streams across North America.
freshwater
California Corbina
A prized surf-zone drum of the California coast, recognized by its uniform silvery body, sloping snout, and single chin barbel.
saltwater
Celestial Pearl Danio
A tiny, jewel-like danio with a dark blue body covered in pearly spots and orange-red banded fins, discovered only in the mid-2000s in Myanmar.
freshwater
Caribbean Reef Shark
The most commonly encountered large shark on Caribbean reefs, a stocky gray requiem shark often seen resting motionless on the sea floor.
reef
Cabezon
The cabezon is the largest sculpin of the North American Pacific coast, a heavily mottled, scaleless ambush predator that blends into rocky reef and kelp habitat.
saltwater
Chinese Catfish
A hardy, air-breathing catfish native to southern China and neighboring regions, well adapted to shallow, oxygen-poor waters like rice paddies and slow streams.
freshwater
Celebes Rainbowfish
A slender, sail-finned rainbowfish endemic to Sulawesi, easily recognized by its tall, translucent dorsal and anal fins edged in black and yellow.
freshwater
Channel Catfish
A widespread North American catfish recognized by its deeply forked tail, scattered dark spots, and long barbels around the mouth. It is the most abundant catfish species in the United States.
freshwater
California Grunion
A slender coastal fish famous for coming fully ashore on sandy California beaches during nighttime spawning runs timed to spring high tides.
saltwaterCalifornia Flyingfish
The largest flyingfish species in the eastern Pacific, this stout, silvery glider uses its oversized wing-like fins to skim above the waves off California and Mexico.
pelagic
Botia
A genus of South and Southeast Asian freshwater loaches known for social behavior and varied patterning; the queen loach (Botia dario) is a representative species.
freshwater
Bluefin Killifish
A small, slender killifish native to Florida and the southeastern US, named for the iridescent blue fringe on the male's dorsal and anal fins.
freshwater
Blonde Ray
A large European skate named for its pale, sandy coloration, recognized by prominent eye-like spots near the base of each pectoral fin and a preference for sandy coastal seabeds.
cartilaginous
Blue-spotted Shark
A small, slender nocturnal reef shark covered in vivid blue spots and dark saddle bands, popular in home aquariums.
reef
Blue Shark
A slender, wide-ranging oceanic shark with a striking indigo-blue back, long pointed pectoral fins, and large eyes, found throughout temperate and tropical open oceans worldwide.
cartilaginous
Bonnethead Shark
The smallest hammerhead species, easily recognized by its smooth, shovel-shaped head, common in shallow coastal waters of the Americas.
cartilaginous
Bluefin Tuna
One of the largest and fastest bony fish in the ocean, the Bluefin Tuna is a warm-blooded, torpedo-shaped predator capable of long transoceanic migrations across the Atlantic.
pelagic
Bluespine Unicornfish
A large Indo-Pacific tang with a bony forehead horn and paired fixed blue-white spines at the tail base, browsing brown macroalgae on coral reefs and reef flats.
reef
Blue Green Chromis
A small schooling damselfish with iridescent blue-green coloring, commonly seen in large groups hovering above branching coral on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
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
Blue Reef Chromis
A slender, brilliant blue schooling fish commonly seen hovering in large numbers above coral reef outcrops throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic.
reef
Blueback Herring
A slender, silvery anadromous herring closely related to the Alewife, distinguished by its deep blue-green back, that migrates from Atlantic coastal waters into freshwater rivers each spring to spawn.
brackish
Bridled Burrfish
A small Caribbean burrfish with fixed, non-erectile spines and a pale body marked with fine dark reticulations and scattered blotches, often resting motionless among seagrass.
reef
Blue-spotted Stingray
A small, brilliantly patterned stingray common on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, instantly recognizable by its electric-blue spots and blue-striped tail.
reef
Bluestripe Pipefish
The bluestripe pipefish is a tiny reef pipefish with a bright blue lateral stripe running along a tan or orange body, often seen hovering near crevices where it also cleans parasites from larger fish.
reef
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.
reefBlue Gularis
One of the largest African killifish, males display an elongated lyre-shaped tail and vivid blue-green body with red barring, native to Nigerian and Cameroonian wetlands.
freshwater
Bolivian Ram
A hardier, calmer cousin of the German Blue Ram, this South American dwarf cichlid sports a soft gray-gold body with a ruby-edged dorsal fin.
freshwater
Bocaccio
A large, streamlined rockfish with a prominent lower jaw and reddish-brown to olive coloring, once heavily depleted along the Pacific coast and now the focus of long-term rebuilding efforts.
saltwater
Bronze Corydoras
A hardy, metallic-sheened armored catfish that forages along the substrate and is one of the most widely kept bottom-dwelling aquarium fish.
freshwater
Bird Wrasse
An Indo-Pacific wrasse instantly recognized by its long, bird-like snout used to probe coral for prey.
reef
Brill
Brill is a left-eyed flatfish closely related to turbot, distinguished by its more elongated oval body, smooth scaled skin, and mottled brownish camouflage pattern.
saltwater
Blue Marlin
A massive, cobalt-blue billfish with a long spear-like bill, the Blue Marlin is one of the fastest and largest predators of the open tropical ocean.
pelagic
Bonefish
A silvery, torpedo-shaped fish of shallow tropical flats, nicknamed the 'grey ghost' for its uncanny ability to vanish against sandy bottoms.
saltwater
Bighead Carp
A large, big-headed East Asian carp that filter-feeds on zooplankton, closely related to the silver carp and similarly established as an invasive species in North American rivers.
freshwater
Brook Lamprey
The brook lamprey is a small, non-parasitic freshwater lamprey of Pacific Northwest streams that never feeds as an adult, spending most of its life buried as a filter-feeding larva.
freshwater