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.
Western Mosquitofish
Native to the Mississippi River basin and Gulf Coast, the western mosquitofish is one of the most widely introduced fish on Earth, prized and criticized in equal measure for its mosquito-control abilities.
freshwater
Smalltooth Sawfish
A Critically Endangered ray-relative with a long, tooth-lined saw-like snout, once common in warm western Atlantic coastal waters but now greatly reduced in range.
cartilaginous
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
Mahi-Mahi
A fast-growing, brilliantly colored open-ocean fish that gathers around floating debris and sargassum, easily recognized by its iridescent blue-green-gold body and long continuous dorsal fin.
pelagic
Ling
The ling is a long, eel-shaped member of the cod family found on deep rocky reefs of the northeastern Atlantic, distinguished by its elongated fins and single chin barbel.
saltwater
Northern Sea Robin
A bottom-dwelling western Atlantic fish with an armored head and huge wing-like pectoral fins, using leg-like fin rays to walk across the seafloor.
saltwater
Florida Pompano
A deep-bodied, silvery fish with a forked tail and yellow-tinged fins, common in sandy surf zones along the western Atlantic coast.
saltwater
European Conger
A large, powerfully built grey eel that shelters in rocky crevices and shipwrecks across the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, among the largest eel species in the region.
saltwater
Carp
A heavy-bodied freshwater fish with large, coarse scales, two pairs of barbels near its mouth, and a highly adaptable, bottom-foraging lifestyle found across much of the world.
freshwater
Atlantic Sturgeon
The Atlantic sturgeon is a large, armored anadromous fish of eastern North America, spending years at sea before returning to coastal rivers to spawn.
brackish
Atlantic Mackerel
A fast-swimming schooling fish with iridescent blue-green wavy stripes across its back, found in cold and temperate waters on both sides of the North Atlantic.
pelagic
Volitans Lionfish
A large, boldly banded lionfish with dramatic trailing fins, an ambush predator now invasive across the western Atlantic.
reef
Snook
A sleek, silvery predator with a bold black lateral stripe and a distinctive sloped, pointed snout, closely tied to mangrove shorelines and warm coastal estuaries.
brackish
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
Shanny
The most common rockpool blenny of the northeastern Atlantic, the Shanny is a stout, big-eyed fish that tolerates the harsh, fluctuating conditions of the intertidal zone.
saltwater
European Ling
A very large, elongated, eel-shaped cod relative found on deep rocky and muddy grounds along the continental shelf edge of the northeastern Atlantic.
deepsea
White Grunt
A stout, silvery reef fish with a bright orange-red mouth lining, known for the grinding sound it makes with its pharyngeal teeth.
reef
Stone Loach
The Stone Loach is a small, mottled bottom-dwelling fish common in clear European streams, often hiding under stones by day.
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
Ocean Sunfish
The ocean sunfish is the heaviest bony fish alive, a flattened giant with no true tail that drifts through temperate and tropical seas feeding on jellyfish.
pelagic
Goldfish
A hardy freshwater fish domesticated from the wild Prussian carp, prized worldwide as an ornamental pond and aquarium species in many color forms.
freshwater
Creek Chub
A stout, adaptable minnow common in small North American creeks, the creek chub is a dominant predator in headwater streams, feeding on insects and small fish, and known for building spawning nest mounds.
freshwater
Crevalle Jack
A powerfully built, silvery jack with a steep forehead and a black spot on its gill cover, common along coastal and estuarine waters of the Atlantic.
pelagic
Atlantic Needlefish
A long, slender silvery fish with a needle-like toothy beak, common in coastal and estuarine waters of the western Atlantic where it hunts small fish near the surface.
brackish