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.
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
Convict Cichlid
A small, hardy Central American cichlid named for its bold black-and-white striped pattern, popular in aquariums for its easy care and attentive parenting behavior.
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
Springer's Damselfish
A small, dramatic black damselfish with two vivid electric-blue stripes running along the top of its body, found on shallow reefs of the Philippines and Indonesia.
reef
Green Neon Tetra
A Rio Negro blackwater characin closely related to the Neon Tetra, identified by its shimmering blue-green stripe and limited rear-body red coloration.
freshwater
Whale Shark
The largest fish in the world, a gentle filter-feeding shark covered in a distinctive checkerboard pattern of pale spots and stripes, found in warm seas worldwide.
cartilaginous
Snook
A sleek, silvery predator with a bold black lateral stripe and a distinctive sloped, pointed snout, closely tied to mangrove shorelines and warm coastal estuaries.
brackish
Frigate Mackerel
A small tuna-like fish with a distinctive dark, wavy tiger-stripe pattern on its upper back, found in warm oceanic waters worldwide.
pelagic
Emperor Tetra
A refined, violet-blue tetra from Colombia known for a bold black lateral stripe and males' elongated, sword-like central tail rays.
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
China Rockfish
Easily recognized by a bold yellow stripe running down its black body, the China rockfish is a small, secretive reef dweller of the northeastern Pacific.
saltwater
Bluestriped Grunt
A vividly striped Caribbean reef fish with a bright yellow body crossed by narrow electric-blue lines, often seen in dense daytime schools beneath reef ledges.
reef
Grunt Sculpin
A small, oddly shaped sculpin with an elongated, beak-like snout and orange-and-brown striped body, famous for mimicking the appearance of an empty giant acorn barnacle shell.
saltwater
Yellowtail Amberjack
A powerful, streamlined jack marked by a bold yellow lateral stripe and yellow tail, roaming temperate and subtropical waters worldwide around reefs, wrecks, and open water.
pelagic
Threadfin Butterflyfish
A widespread Indo-Pacific butterflyfish identified by a pale yellow body, dark diagonal stripes, a black eye-band, and a distinctive trailing filament on the rear dorsal fin.
reef
Sohal Tang
A powerfully built surgeonfish endemic to the Red Sea and nearby Arabian waters, marked by bold blue and black striping and known for fiercely defending shallow reef flats.
reef
Spotted Boxfish
The Spotted Boxfish shows striking sexual dimorphism: males are blue with orange-edged spots and yellow stripes, while females and juveniles are black covered in white spots.
reef
Porkfish
A bright yellow Caribbean grunt marked by two bold black diagonal stripes across the head, forming large schools that shelter near reef structure by day.
reef
Cuckoo Wrasse
A vividly patterned wrasse of the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, with males displaying bold blue and orange stripes and females a softer pink patterned with black-edged white spots.
reef
Cero Mackerel
A slender, fast-swimming mackerel of Caribbean and western Atlantic waters, identified by a bronze-yellow stripe and rows of yellow-orange spots along its silvery sides.
pelagic
Bonito
A fast, streamlined relative of the tunas and mackerels, marked by bold dark diagonal stripes across its upper back, found in schools across temperate and warm seas.
pelagic
Atlantic Mackerel
A fast-swimming schooling fish with iridescent blue-green wavy stripes across its back, found in cold and temperate waters on both sides of the North Atlantic.
pelagic
Weedy Seadragon
A slender, reddish-purple relative of the seahorse decorated with small leaf-like fin projections and yellow stripes, found along the temperate reefs of southern Australia.
reefTiger Muskie
A hybrid of northern pike and muskellunge, this elongated apex predator sports bold dark tiger stripes and is prized as one of freshwater's most aggressive game fish.
freshwater