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.
Yellow Boxfish
The Yellow Boxfish is a cube-shaped reef fish, bright yellow with black spots as a juvenile, that swims with slow, hovering movements thanks to its rigid armored body.
reef
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
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
Spotted Garden Eel
The Spotted Garden Eel lives in dense colonies of speckled, burrow-dwelling eels on sandy reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific, feeding on drifting plankton.
reef
Southern Flounder
The southern flounder is a large left-eyed flatfish of the southeastern United States, closely resembling the summer flounder but lacking prominent eyespots on its body.
saltwater
Southern Stingray
A large, diamond-shaped stingray commonly seen gliding over sandy flats of the Caribbean and western Atlantic, often partially buried in sediment.
cartilaginousSevruga
The sevruga, or starry sturgeon, is a slender anadromous sturgeon of the Caspian, Black, and Azov Sea basins, known for its long upturned snout and rows of star-shaped bony scutes.
brackish
Severum
A deep-bodied, disc-shaped Amazonian cichlid with subtle vertical banding and warm olive-gold coloration, popular for its calm temperament.
freshwater
Scopas Tang
A deep-bodied, disc-shaped surgeonfish usually seen in muted brown to gray tones, valued on reefs and in aquariums alike as an efficient, hardy algae grazer.
reef
Shortbill Spearfish
A slender billfish with an unusually short bill relative to its body, found in warm offshore waters worldwide and considered the smallest of the true spearfish.
pelagicSailfin Flyingfish
A small, two-winged flyingfish with a tall, sail-like dorsal fin and blunt snout, found gliding over warm coastal and offshore surface waters worldwide.
pelagic
Salmon-red Rainbowfish
A deep-bodied rainbowfish endemic to Lake Sentani in Papua, Indonesia, where mature males develop a vivid overall salmon-red to orange coloration.
freshwater
Red Gurnard
A reddish-pink bottom-dweller of European seas, the Red Gurnard has an armored head and finger-like pectoral rays it uses to walk and sense prey along the seafloor.
saltwater
Reef Croaker
A coppery-golden drum associated with Caribbean coral reefs, unusual among croakers for its strong reef affinity rather than open sand or mud habitat.
reef
Redtail Splitfin
A colorful Mexican goodeid livebearer, with males showing a vivid orange-red tail band contrasting a steel-blue body, popular in the aquarium trade.
freshwater
Pristella Tetra
A translucent, pale-golden tetra whose semi-transparent body reveals internal structures, marked by distinctive black-and-yellow fin patches.
freshwater
Pallid Sturgeon
The pallid sturgeon is a large, pale, endangered fish of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, adapted to fast, turbid water with a flattened snout and reduced eyes.
freshwater
Pacu
A large Amazon and Orinoco characin related to piranhas but herbivorous, identified by its reddish belly and flattened, fruit-crushing teeth.
freshwater
Marbled Hatchetfish
A tiny South American fish with a deep, keeled belly and enlarged pectoral fins that let it skim and glide just above the water surface to escape predators.
freshwater
Orangeshoulder Tang
A gray-bodied surgeonfish marked by a bold orange patch behind the gill cover, often seen grazing sandy rubble zones adjacent to Indo-Pacific coral reefs.
reef
Humbug Damselfish
A small white damselfish marked with three bold black bars and a clear tail, living in tight groups among the branches of Indo-Pacific coral colonies.
reef
Kawakawa
A compact, fast schooling tuna of the Indo-Pacific with a wavy dark pattern on its back and several distinctive dark spots between the pectoral and pelvic fins.
pelagic