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.
Alaska Pollock
An abundant, silvery schooling fish of the cold North Pacific and Bering Sea, closely related to Atlantic Cod and among the most numerous commercially significant fish in the world.
saltwater
Peruvian Anchoveta
A small, slender schooling fish found in colossal numbers within the nutrient-rich Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile, considered one of the most abundant fish species on Earth.
pelagicTiger 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
Oceanic Whitetip Shark
A robust open-ocean shark identified by its large, rounded, white-mottled fins, once one of the most abundant pelagic sharks but now heavily depleted across tropical open oceans worldwide.
pelagic
Largetooth Sawfish
One of the largest sawfish species, uniquely able to travel far up freshwater rivers, now Critically Endangered and eliminated from most of its former circumtropical range.
cartilaginous
Largemouth Bass
A robust, olive-green freshwater fish with a distinctive dark lateral stripe and a very large mouth, one of North America's most popular sport fish now established worldwide.
freshwater
Emperor Killifish
Emperor Killifish is an alternate name for the Blue Gularis, one of the largest and most dramatically finned West African killifish, with males sporting an elongated lyre-shaped tail.
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.
freshwaterBristlemouth
A tiny, worldwide deep-sea fish of the genus Cyclothone believed to be the most numerous vertebrate on Earth by sheer population size.
deepsea
Threespot Dascyllus
A robust black-bodied damselfish bearing three white spots in youth, one of the most widespread dascyllus species on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Otocinclus
A tiny suckermouth catfish that spends most of its time grazing algae and biofilm from surfaces in slow-moving South American waters.
freshwater
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
Blacktip Shark
A fast, energetic coastal shark named for the black tips on most of its fins, often seen leaping and spinning while chasing schooling fish.
saltwater
American Shad
The largest member of the herring family in North America, this deep-bodied, silvery, anadromous fish spends most of its life at sea before migrating up coastal rivers each spring to spawn.
brackish
Purple Tang
A vivid violet surgeonfish with a contrasting yellow tail, native to Red Sea coral reefs.
reef
Discus
A round, flattened Amazonian cichlid prized for its vivid patterns and colors, considered one of the most striking freshwater aquarium fish and a demanding species to keep well.
freshwater
Golden Shiner
A slender, deep-bodied North American minnow with brassy golden-silver sides, the golden shiner is among the continent's most widely used baitfish, thriving in weedy ponds and slow-moving water.
freshwater
Pink Salmon
The smallest and most abundant Pacific salmon, notable for its strict two-year life cycle and the pronounced dorsal hump males develop when spawning.
freshwater
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.
reef
Clown Tang
A vividly striped surgeonfish with alternating blue, black, and yellow horizontal lines, one of the most aggressively territorial herbivores on shallow Indo-Pacific reef crests.
reef
Zebra Mbuna
One of the most iconic Lake Malawi cichlids, the zebra mbuna is highly variable in color across populations but typically shows bold barring, and it forms the basis for one of the aquarium hobby's most popular mbuna groups.
freshwater
Ornate Ghost Pipefish
The ornate ghost pipefish is a strikingly patterned reef fish covered in frilly skin extensions that let it blend seamlessly with crinoids and soft corals. It is one of the most photographed of the ghost pipefish species.
reefIndian Oil Sardine
A small, oil-rich pelagic fish abundant along India's western coast and the wider northern Indian Ocean, the Indian Oil Sardine forms massive schools and is one of the region's most heavily monitored fisheries species.
pelagic
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