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.
Northern Brook Lamprey
The northern brook lamprey is a small, non-parasitic freshwater lamprey of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region, believed to have evolved from a parasitic ancestor but never feeding as an adult.
freshwater
Nile Tilapia
A deep-bodied African cichlid with bold stripes on its tail fin, the Nile tilapia is one of the world's most widely distributed freshwater fish through aquaculture and introductions.
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
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
Blackstripe Topminnow
A slender freshwater killifish of the central and eastern U.S., identified by a single solid black stripe running from snout to tail. It inhabits quiet pools and slow stream reaches.
freshwater
Alligator Gar
A massive, armor-scaled freshwater fish with a broad alligator-like snout lined with two rows of sharp teeth, among the largest freshwater fish in North America.
freshwater
Mangrove Jack
A deep red Indo-Pacific snapper whose juveniles grow up in mangrove estuaries and rivers, tolerating salinities from freshwater to full seawater.
brackish
Bull Shark
A stocky, grey shark famous for its extreme tolerance of fresh and brackish water, allowing it to travel far up rivers and live in freshwater lakes far from the ocean.
cartilaginous
Striped Bass
A large, silvery, hard-fighting bass marked with bold black stripes, native to the Atlantic coast and now widely established in freshwater reservoirs across North America.
brackish
Swordtail
Named for the elongated, sword-like extension on the male's tail fin, this energetic livebearer from Mexico and Central America is a long-standing favorite in freshwater aquariums.
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
Asian Arowana
A large, brightly colored freshwater fish prized for its metallic scales and dragon-like appearance, native to Southeast Asian rivers and now considered endangered in the wild.
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
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
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
Ocellate River Stingray
A striking South American freshwater stingray with bold eyespot-like rings across its disc, common in the Amazon and Paraná river basins and popular in the aquarium trade.
freshwater
Dwarf Livebearer
One of the smallest fish species in the world, this tiny freshwater livebearer from the southeastern United States is prized for its miniature size and easy breeding.
freshwater
Dwarf Gourami
A small, colorful labyrinth fish from South Asia, with males displaying vivid diagonal red and blue stripes, popular in the freshwater aquarium trade.
freshwater
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
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
Silver Lamprey
The silver lamprey is a freshwater parasitic lamprey of central and eastern North America, recognized by its single-cusped teeth and silvery body, native to Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin drainages.
freshwater
Muskellunge
A large, elongated predatory fish native to North American lakes and rivers, marked by dark vertical bars or spots on a lighter body. It is the largest member of the pike family and a well-known apex freshwater predator.
freshwater
Far Eastern Brook Lamprey
A small, jawless, non-parasitic lamprey native to clear freshwater streams across Japan, Korea, and mainland East Asia, spending most of its life as a burrowing larva before a brief non-feeding adult stage.
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