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.
Cisco
Cisco, also known as lake herring, are slender silvery relatives of whitefish that form large open-water schools in the cold lakes of the northern United States and Canada, feeding mainly on plankton.
freshwater
Catla
One of India's most important aquaculture fish, the catla is a large, fast-growing surface-feeding carp with a broad head, upturned mouth, and deep body suited to filtering plankton from open water.
freshwater
Brook Trout
A colorful char native to cold, clear streams of eastern North America, marked by worm-like back markings and red spots haloed in blue along its sides. It is highly sensitive to water quality and temperature.
freshwater
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
Bluehead Wrasse
A small, abundant Caribbean reef fish famous for changing color and sex as it matures, with terminal males developing a striking blue head and green body. It is one of the most numerous fish on western Atlantic reefs.
reef
Big-belly Seahorse
The largest seahorse species in the world, recognized by its notably rounded, protruding belly and mottled brown-yellow coloration, found along the temperate coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
saltwater
Banded Archerfish
A silvery, deep-bodied fish famous for spitting jets of water to knock insects off overhanging vegetation into the water below. Bold dark bands and a flattened, upturned mouth make it easy to recognize.
brackish
Asian Swamp Eel
A slender, limbless, snake-like eel native to rice paddies and marshes of East and Southeast Asia, known for its air-breathing ability and its establishment as an introduced species in parts of the southeastern United States.
freshwater
Zebra Turkeyfish
A dwarf lionfish species boldly striped in reddish-brown and white, with broad, fan-like pectoral fins used to corner small prey against reef rubble.
reef
Yellow-edged Moray
One of the largest reef morays, marked with an intricate maze-like pattern and a bright yellow-edged dorsal fin, hiding by day in rocky and coral crevices.
reef
Yellowbelly Damselfish
A small blue-grey damselfish with a bright yellow underside, found sheltering around coral and rubble on shallow reefs of the western Pacific.
reef
Zebra Loach
A small, boldly striped South Indian loach with fine dark vertical bands, popular in aquariums for its compact size and peaceful, social behavior.
freshwater
Wolf Eel
The Wolf Eel is a large, spotted, eel-shaped fish of North Pacific rocky reefs that forms long-term pairs and cooperatively guards its eggs in a shared den.
saltwater
West African Lungfish
An eel-shaped African lungfish able to survive months of drought by burrowing into mud and forming a protective cocoon while it aestivates.
freshwater
Viperfish
The viperfish is a deep-sea predator famous for its oversized, needle-like fangs and a light-tipped dorsal fin ray used as a lure in the dark mesopelagic zone.
deepsea
Undulate Ray
A patterned skate marked with wavy dark bands across its back, found on sandy and rocky bottoms from the English Channel to the Mediterranean and West Africa.
cartilaginous
Steephead Parrotfish
A large Indo-Pacific parrotfish named for its abruptly steep, blunt forehead, typically seen grazing algae and reef rock along outer reef slopes in small groups.
reefSplake
Splake are a fertile hybrid char produced by crossing brook trout and lake trout, combining the fast growth of brook trout with the longevity and deep-water habits of lake trout.
freshwaterNaked Sole
A small, scaleless western Atlantic and Gulf sole with smooth skin, fine dark wavy crossbands, and a habit of burying in clean sand on the continental shelf.
saltwater
Thornback Ray
A common European skate covered in distinctive rows of sharp thorny spines, found on sandy and muddy seabeds from shallow water to the continental shelf.
cartilaginousTench
A robust, olive-green European fish with a thick, slimy skin and tiny scales, favoring weedy, still waters and long valued by anglers and pond keepers alike.
freshwater
Three-Spot Domino Damselfish
A round, jet-black damselfish marked with three white spots, commonly seen sheltering among sea anemones and branching corals on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Southern Stingray
A large, diamond-shaped stingray commonly seen gliding over sandy flats of the Caribbean and western Atlantic, often partially buried in sediment.
cartilaginous
Spotted Eagle Ray
A striking, diamond-shaped ray covered in bright white spots on a dark back, known for graceful swimming and spectacular leaps above coral reefs.
reef