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.
Marbled Grouper
The marbled grouper is an uncommon western Atlantic reef fish with a distinctive dark, marbled or streaked pattern that gives way to a dark 'charcoal' belly, often seen near caves and drop-offs.
reef
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.
reef
Mozambique Tilapia
A hardy, deep-bodied cichlid native to southeastern Africa, the Mozambique tilapia tolerates a huge range of salinities and temperatures and has become one of the world's most widely introduced freshwater fish.
freshwater
Blackfin Tuna
The smallest member of the true tuna genus, this fast schooling fish sports a dark blue-black back and yellow, black-edged finlets, ranging through warm western Atlantic waters.
pelagic
Barracuda
A large, torpedo-shaped predatory fish found around tropical reefs, seagrass beds, and open coastal waters worldwide, easily identified by its underbite jaw and fang-like teeth.
reef
Australian Lungfish
One of the most primitive living fish, this large freshwater species has a single lung, paddle-like fins, and a lineage that has remained largely unchanged for over 100 million years.
freshwater
Royal Gramma
The Royal Gramma is a small Caribbean reef fish with a sharp two-tone body: violet-purple in front, golden yellow behind. It shelters upside down in caves and crevices along steep reef walls.
reef
Pelican Eel
A deep-sea fish named for its enormous pelican-like pouch of a mouth, which it can expand to engulf prey and water, then slowly expel excess water while retaining any captured prey.
deepsea
Muskellunge
A large, elongated predatory fish native to North American lakes and rivers, marked by dark vertical bars or spots on a lighter body. It is the largest member of the pike family and a well-known apex freshwater predator.
freshwater
Ghost Pipefish
Ghost pipefish are small, camouflaged reef fish related to true pipefish, named for their ability to nearly vanish against crinoids, algae, and seagrass. The family includes several species distinguished by body shape and coloration.
reef
Blue Gourami (Three Spot Gourami)
A hardy, adaptable Southeast Asian labyrinth fish named for the two dark spots along its flank that, combined with the eye, form a "three spot" pattern; the wild form is blue-grey with darker mottling.
freshwater
Bay Anchovy
One of the most abundant fish in Atlantic and Gulf Coast estuaries, the tiny Bay Anchovy is a key forage species that tolerates a wide range of salinities from open bays to nearly fresh tidal creeks.
brackish
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
Sailfin Snapper
The sailfin snapper is a striking Indo-Pacific reef fish with blue diagonal stripes, yellow fins, and a tall, flowing dorsal fin, often seen over sand patches near coral reefs.
reefPacific Sardine
A silvery, spot-flanked schooling fish found along the Pacific coast of North America, famous for boom-and-bust population cycles driven by shifting ocean temperatures and historically massive coastal schools.
pelagic
Cherry Barb
A small, slender freshwater fish whose males flush a deep cherry-red color, especially during breeding, while both sexes show a dark horizontal stripe running along the body.
freshwater
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
Arctic Cod
Arctic cod, or polar cod, is a small, ice-associated Gadidae found throughout the circumpolar Arctic, recognized by its slender body, deeply forked tail, and role as the region's key forage fish.
pelagic
Six Line Wrasse
The Six Line Wrasse is a small, brightly colored reef fish with six narrow orange stripes running along a purple-blue body and a black spot near the tail, often darting through coral rubble.
reef
Pyjama Cardinalfish
A small, boldly patterned reef fish with a yellow-spotted rear half, a dark bar through the eye, and large eyes suited to nocturnal feeding. It shelters among coral branches and sea urchin spines by day.
reef
Atlantic Menhaden
A deep-bodied, oily, silvery schooling fish found in vast numbers along the U.S. Atlantic coast, notable for a large dark shoulder spot and its outsized ecological role as a filter-feeding forage species.
pelagic
Sculpin
A broad-headed, bottom-dwelling fish of the family Cottidae, represented here by the widespread Pacific Staghorn Sculpin, known for its large fan-like pectoral fins and mottled camouflage on sandy and muddy bottoms.
saltwater
Smallmouth Bass
A bronze-green freshwater bass native to eastern North America, prized as a popular sport fish and recognized by its vertical dark bars and reddish eyes. It favors clear, rocky rivers, streams, and lakes.
freshwater
Giant Gourami
The largest gourami species, a deep-bodied Southeast Asian labyrinth fish that can exceed two feet in length and shifts from an insect-eating juvenile diet to a largely plant-based adult diet.
freshwater