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.
Reticulated Hillstream Loach
The Reticulated Hillstream Loach is a flat, disc-shaped fish from Vietnamese mountain streams, patterned with an intricate net-like design and adapted to cling to rocks in swift current.
freshwater
Severum
A deep-bodied, disc-shaped Amazonian cichlid with subtle vertical banding and warm olive-gold coloration, popular for its calm temperament.
freshwater
Shortfin Molly
A hardy, adaptable livebearer native to Mexico and Central America, prized in the aquarium trade for its tolerance of varied water chemistry.
freshwater
Rummynose Tetra
A slender silvery tetra known for its bright red-orange snout and a bold black-and-white striped tail, prized for tight, synchronized shoaling.
freshwater
Shovelnose Sturgeon
The shovelnose sturgeon is the smallest and most abundant North American sturgeon, a slender river fish with a flattened snout and a thin whip-like tail filament.
freshwater
Siamese Algae Eater
A slim, torpedo-shaped Southeast Asian minnow relative well known among aquarium keepers for actively grazing on a wide range of algae types.
freshwater
Raphael Catfish
A hardy South American armored catfish known for the bold cream stripes running along its dark body and its ability to produce audible clicking sounds when handled.
freshwater
Redtail Notho
A small East African annual killifish from Zanzibar, prized for the male's vivid red, black-edged tail. It lives in temporary rain pools and survives the dry season as drought-resistant eggs buried in mud.
freshwater
Red Rainbowfish
A striking, deep-bodied rainbowfish endemic to Lake Sentani in Papua, New Guinea, with adult males turning an intense salmon-red as they mature.
freshwater
Sailfin Catfish
A large South American armored catfish with a tall sail-like dorsal fin, popular in aquariums and now a widespread invasive species in warm freshwater habitats worldwide.
freshwater
Rainbow Goby
A tiny, iridescent freshwater goby whose males display shimmering blue-green and orange coloration, found clinging to rocks in fast mountain streams across the Indo-Pacific.
freshwater
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
Purple Spotted Gudgeon
A stocky, olive-brown Australian freshwater fish covered in scattered iridescent purple-blue spots, favoring weedy, slow-moving streams and lagoons.
freshwater
Rachovi Killifish
A vividly colored annual killifish from coastal Mozambique, with males showing a turquoise body and a tricolor red-yellow-blue tail. It lives in temporary floodplain pools near Beira.
freshwater
Scissortail Rasbora
A slender silver rasbora named for its striking black-and-white tail markings that open and close in a scissor-like motion while swimming.
freshwater
Ram Cichlid
A small, dazzlingly colorful South American dwarf cichlid prized for its violet-blue iridescence and peaceful, pair-bonding nature.
freshwater
Red-eye Tetra
A hardy, wide-ranging South American characin identified by its striking red iris band and bold black-and-white marked tail base.
freshwater
Parkinson's Rainbowfish
A large, robust rainbowfish from the eastern rivers of Papua New Guinea, with mature males displaying a striking golden-orange rear half contrasting with a bluish-silver front.
freshwater
Red Phantom Tetra
A blackwater Orinoco characin with a rosy translucent body and bold black shoulder mark, known for its tall, flag-like dorsal fin in males.
freshwater
Pearl Danio
A slender, iridescent danio with a shifting pearly sheen of blue, pink, and gold along its flanks, native to fast-flowing Southeast Asian streams.
freshwater
Redeye Bass
A small, stream-dwelling black bass named for its bright red eyes, native to rocky, fast-flowing rivers of the southeastern Appalachian foothills.
freshwater
Rock Bass
A robust, bronze-colored sunfish relative with striking red eyes, often found around rocky cover in clear streams and lakes of eastern and central North America.
freshwater
Redtail Catfish
A large South American river catfish easily recognized by its dark body, cream underside, and vivid orange-red tail fin.
freshwater
Peacock Goby
A small, brightly colored sleeper goby from Papua New Guinea, with a rounded body patterned in iridescent blue spots over an orange-to-purple base. A dark eye-like spot near the tail gives it its scientific species name.
freshwater
Rummy-nose Tetra
A small schooling Amazonian tetra known for its bright red-orange snout and a bold black-and-white striped tail fin, prized in aquariums for its striking coloration and tight shoaling behavior.
freshwater
Peacock Gudgeon
A vividly colored, peaceful gudgeon from Papua New Guinea, prized in aquariums for its blue-spangled body, orange fins, and calm temperament rare among small predatory fish.
freshwater
Peacock Bass
A powerful, brilliantly colored cichlid from South America, prized for its golden-green flanks, dark vertical bars, and the distinctive eyespot at the base of its tail.
freshwater
Rosy Barb
A hardy, active barb whose silvery body flushes rosy pink to red during breeding condition, especially pronounced in males.
freshwater
Ohrid Trout
The Ohrid Trout is a salmonid endemic to Lake Ohrid on the border of North Macedonia and Albania, found nowhere else on Earth and now critically endangered in the wild.
freshwater
Northern Pike
A long, torpedo-shaped ambush predator with a duck-bill-like snout and light bean-shaped markings, famous for lurking motionless in weeds before striking prey with explosive speed.
freshwater
Northern Studfish
A large, robust topminnow of clear, rocky streams in the Ozark and Appalachian interior highlands, with males showing rows of iridescent blue-green spots.
freshwater
Rosy Loach
The Rosy Loach is a tiny, delicately colored nano loach from Myanmar's slow-moving, vegetated streams and pools, prized for its diminutive size and rosy-pink hues.
freshwater
Odessa Barb
A small, vividly colored barb popularized in the aquarium trade, the Odessa barb's males show a brilliant red mid-body stripe against silvery-gold flanks, especially intense during courtship displays.
freshwater
Rohu
A large South Asian river carp with a streamlined, silvery-grey body, widely farmed across the Indian subcontinent as a major aquaculture species and prized angling fish.
freshwater
Oscar
A large, intelligent South American cichlid known for its bold personality, striking mottled coloration, and a dark false eyespot near the base of its tail.
freshwater
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
Nile Perch
A large, silvery-grey freshwater predator with a distinctive dark eye and deep body, native to major African river systems and infamous for its ecological impact after introduction to Lake Victoria.
freshwater
Red Devil Cichlid
A bold, thick-lipped Nicaraguan cichlid known for its fiery orange-red or white coloration and famously feisty, combative temperament.
freshwater
Rainbow Trout
A popular salmonid native to Pacific-drainage rivers of North America and Asia, known for its silvery body, dark spotting, and the broad pink-red stripe that gives the species its name.
freshwater
Paradise Fish
A hardy East Asian labyrinth fish with vivid blue-and-red banded flanks and flowing fins, historically one of the first ornamental fish kept in Western aquariums.
freshwater
Pearl Gourami
A peaceful Southeast Asian labyrinth fish prized for its lace-like pearly pattern and a black stripe running from snout to tail, with males showing an orange throat and breast.
freshwater
Ocellate River Stingray
A striking South American freshwater stingray with bold eyespot-like rings across its disc, common in the Amazon and Paraná river basins and popular in the aquarium trade.
freshwater
Palon Killifish
A small East African annual killifish in the genus Nothobranchius, with males displaying coppery orange-red coloring and blue speckling. It inhabits temporary coastal pools tied to seasonal rains.
freshwater
Pumpkinseed
A small, brilliantly colored sunfish with an orange-spotted body, blue-green facial streaks, and a distinctive red spot on the black ear flap, common in weedy ponds and lakes of eastern North America.
freshwater
Mexican Tetra
A resilient silvery tetra native to Texas and Mexico, renowned for cave populations that lost their eyes and pigment through evolution in total darkness.
freshwater
Pictus Catfish
A small, active South American catfish marked with dark spots over a silvery body and extremely long, trailing barbels.
freshwater
Lyretail Killifish
A slender, non-annual West African killifish named for the male's elegant lyre-shaped tail, ranging in color from golden-orange to deep red across its native populations.
freshwater
Longnose Gar
A slender, torpedo-shaped freshwater fish with an extremely long, narrow, tooth-lined snout, easily recognized among North American fish by its needle-like jaws.
freshwater