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.
Staghorn Sculpin
A common bottom-dwelling sculpin of Pacific coast bays and estuaries, named for the large branching (antler-like) spine on its gill cover.
brackish
Sauger
A slender, olive-gold relative of the walleye, best known for the rows of black spots on its spiny dorsal fin and its love of murky river currents.
freshwater
Sand Seatrout
A pale, slender weakfish common in Gulf of Mexico bays and estuaries, closely related to spotted seatrout but lacking body spots.
brackish
Redband Parrotfish
A small, variable Caribbean parrotfish; terminal males are green with a red band and a distinctive yellow-and-black shoulder spot.
reef
Powder Blue Tang
A vivid powder-blue surgeonfish with a black facial mask and white throat patch, common on shallow reef edges across the Indian Ocean.
reef
Reedfish
A snake-bodied African fish with a lung-like breathing organ, related to bichirs, prized for its unusual elongated form and air-breathing ability.
freshwater
Red Snapper
A rosy-red snapper of the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. coast, recognized by its sloped profile, sharp triangular teeth, and bright red eyes.
reef
Pilotfish
A boldly barred open-ocean jack famous for closely trailing sharks and other large marine animals for shelter and feeding opportunities.
pelagic
Megamouth Shark
An enormous, gentle filter-feeding shark with a massive rounded mouth, discovered only in 1976 and still one of the rarest sharks on record.
deepsea
Mulloway
A large, powerful drum found around Australia, South Africa, and parts of Asia, known for its silvery body, bronze sheen, and impressive size.
saltwater
Rainbow Wrasse
A slender Mediterranean and eastern-Atlantic wrasse; terminal males have a vivid orange zigzag stripe along a blue-green body.
saltwater
Queenfish
A small, slender drum common in California bays and nearshore waters, notable for forming large, tightly packed schools near the surface.
saltwater
Plecostomus
A heavily armored South American catfish with a downward-facing sucker mouth used to graze algae from rocks and submerged wood.
freshwater
Northern Wolffish
The largest wolffish species, the Northern Wolffish is a plain grey-brown, deep-water predator of the North Atlantic and Arctic with powerful crushing jaws.
deepsea
Loach Goby
The Loach Goby is an elongated, flat-bodied fish that clings to rocks in fast-flowing Indo-Pacific streams, combining goby and loach-like features.
freshwater
Indo-Pacific Sailfish
The Indo-Pacific sailfish is a large, streamlined billfish famed for its towering, sail-like dorsal fin and status as one of the fastest fish in the ocean.
pelagicKingfish
Kingfish, led by the Northern Kingfish, are silvery-grey surf-zone drums with a chin barbel and diagonal body bars, common along Atlantic beaches.
saltwater
Madagascar Rainbowfish
An elongated, silvery rainbowfish from Madagascar's eastern rainforest rivers, recognized by its bold black-edged yellow and red fin markings.
freshwater
Green Tiger Barb
A green-toned color variant of the popular Tiger Barb, retaining the same bold dark bands and active, schooling nature as the classic orange form.
freshwaterHardhead Catfish
A common western Atlantic sea catfish with a bony plate on its head, short barbels, and a mouthbrooding reproductive strategy shared with related sea catfish.
saltwater
Flagtail Prochilodus
The Flagtail Prochilodus is a schooling South American river fish named for its bold red-and-black striped tail fin, which resembles a flag.
freshwater
Gafftopsail Catfish
A silvery Atlantic sea catfish named for the tall, sail-like extension of its first dorsal fin ray and long trailing pectoral fin filaments.
saltwater
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
Electric Ray
A round-bodied ray capable of generating a powerful electric shock from specialized organs, used to stun prey and deter predators.
cartilaginous