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.
Southern Platyfish
The full common name for the widely kept platy, the southern platyfish is a small, hardy livebearer native to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, prized for its color variety and easy breeding.
freshwater
Variable Platyfish
A close relative of the common platy, the variable platyfish is native to northeastern Mexico and shows exceptional natural variation in color and pattern, giving rise to many popular aquarium strains.
freshwater
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.
cartilaginous
Southern Kingfish
A slender, uniformly silvery drum common in surf zones from the mid-Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, lacking the bold barring of its relatives.
saltwater
Southern Bluefin Tuna
A large, deep-bodied tuna of the Southern Hemisphere's open oceans, distinguished by very short pectoral fins and a single spawning ground south of Indonesia.
pelagicSouthern Blue Whiting
The southern blue whiting is a slender, schooling Gadidae found in cold Southern Hemisphere waters around South America and New Zealand, closely resembling its North Atlantic relative but occupying entirely separate populations.
pelagic
Platy
A small, compact livebearer native to Mexico and Central America, the platy is prized for its bright colors, peaceful nature, and ease of breeding in home aquariums.
freshwater
California Halibut
A large, active eastern Pacific flatfish with a big toothy mouth, uniform brown coloration, and an unusual mix of left- and right-eyed individuals within the species.
saltwater
Stingray
A flat, diamond-shaped cartilaginous fish that spends much of its time partly buried in sand on shallow tropical seafloors, related to sharks and equipped with a long, whip-like venomous-spined tail.
cartilaginous
Leafy Seadragon
An extraordinary seahorse relative covered in ornate leaf-shaped appendages, camouflaging almost perfectly among the kelp and seaweed beds of southern Australia.
reef
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.
reefBroadgilled Hagfish
The broadgilled hagfish is a large, jawless scavenger found on shelf and slope seabeds around New Zealand and southern Australia, among the biggest hagfish species known.
saltwater
White Cloud Mountain Minnow
A hardy, cold-tolerant minnow with a metallic green-gold stripe and red-tinted fins, native to cool mountain streams in southern China.
freshwater
Spotfin Croaker
A robust surf-zone drum from Southern California and Baja, easily identified by a bold black spot at the base of each pectoral fin.
saltwater
African Tiger Fish
A ferocious, fast-swimming predator of southern and eastern African rivers, armed with prominent interlocking teeth and known for spectacular aerial strikes on prey.
freshwater
Slender Tuna
The slender tuna is a slim-bodied, planktivorous tuna of cool temperate southern seas, distinguished from other tunas by its narrow build and diet of small crustaceans.
pelagic
Antarctic Cod
Antarctic cod is a bottom-dwelling notothenioid fish of the Southern Ocean, adapted to near-freezing water and recognized by its mottled brown, camouflaged body and broad head.
saltwater
Dwarf Pufferfish
The Dwarf Pufferfish is one of the world's smallest puffers, a freshwater species from southern India prized for its tiny size and expressive, alert behavior.
freshwaterJack Mackerel
A slender, schooling temperate-water jack found off southern Australia and New Zealand, identifiable by its bony lateral scutes and vital role as forage for larger ocean predators.
pelagic
Longtooth Grouper
A large brownish grouper found from southern Japan to the South China Sea, mottled with faint darker blotches and named for its prominent elongated canine teeth.
reef
Chinese Catfish
A hardy, air-breathing catfish native to southern China and neighboring regions, well adapted to shallow, oxygen-poor waters like rice paddies and slow streams.
freshwater
Australian Rainbowfish
A widespread, variably colored rainbowfish found across tropical Australian and southern New Guinea waterways, ranging from olive-silver to vivid blue and yellow forms.
freshwater
Redear Sunfish
A deep-bodied sunfish named for the bright red-orange margin on its black ear flap, notable for its specialized diet of snails and other mollusks in warm southern lakes and ponds.
freshwater