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.
Barramundi Cod
The Australian common name for the panther grouper, a pale gray, black-spotted reef grouper instantly recognizable by its small head and steeply humped forehead.
reef
Graysby
The graysby is a small, reddish-brown reef grouper of the tropical western Atlantic, densely covered in pale spots and marked with a few larger dark blotches along its back.
reef
Coney
The coney is a small, color-variable reef grouper of the tropical western Atlantic, occurring in reddish-brown, bicolor, or bright golden-yellow forms, always marked with fine blue spotting.
reef
Bocaccio
A large, streamlined rockfish with a prominent lower jaw and reddish-brown to olive coloring, once heavily depleted along the Pacific coast and now the focus of long-term rebuilding efforts.
saltwater
Bluespotted Rabbitfish
A vividly colored rabbitfish with a yellow-orange body scattered with small electric-blue spots, commonly seen grazing coral-rich reef flats across the Indo-Pacific.
reef
Striped Catfish
An eel-shaped Indo-Pacific reef catfish marked with pale longitudinal stripes, whose juveniles form dense, tightly packed schooling balls over sand and reef flats.
reef
Pennant Coralfish
A black-and-white butterflyfish relative known for its long pennant-like dorsal filament, often mistaken for a juvenile Moorish idol as it drifts in loose reef aggregations.
reef
Clown Goby
A tiny, bright yellow goby that lives permanently nestled among the branches of Acropora corals on Indo-Pacific reefs, rarely straying from its host colony.
reef
Blue Green Chromis
A small schooling damselfish with iridescent blue-green coloring, commonly seen in large groups hovering above branching coral on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Neon Damselfish
A small, brilliant iridescent blue damselfish with a touch of yellow on the tail, commonly seen in loose groups over rubble and coral on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Azure Damselfish
A small, vividly blue damselfish common on Indo-Pacific reef flats and lagoons, easily spotted flitting among coral rubble in loose groups.
reef
Humbug Damselfish
A small white damselfish marked with three bold black bars and a clear tail, living in tight groups among the branches of Indo-Pacific coral colonies.
reef
Vermiculated Angelfish
A small pygmy-group angelfish with a bold yellow head, blue-black body etched with fine wavy vermiculated blue lines, commonly seen darting around coral rubble on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Bird Wrasse
An Indo-Pacific wrasse instantly recognized by its long, bird-like snout used to probe coral for prey.
reef
Flame Hawkfish
A brilliant red-orange reef fish that perches motionless atop branching coral, darting out to ambush small prey.
reef
Cownose Ray
A migratory, schooling ray with a distinctive indented snout, famous for traveling in dense groups of hundreds along coastal waters.
pelagic
Black Sea Bass
A stocky, dark-bodied grouper relative common on rocky reefs and wrecks along the temperate western Atlantic coast, easily recognized by its high arched back and blunt head.
reef
Serpae Tetra
A vividly red-bodied tetra with a bold black shoulder patch, known for its assertive, nippy temperament within shoaling groups.
freshwaterPygmy Goby
One of the smallest vertebrates on Earth, this minute translucent goby perches in crevices on Indo-Pacific coral reefs and has an extraordinarily short lifespan.
reef
Reef Shark
A common, streamlined shark patrolling Indo-Pacific coral reefs, recognized by its broad black-edged tail fin and stout gray body.
reef
Blue Reef Chromis
A slender, brilliant blue schooling fish commonly seen hovering in large numbers above coral reef outcrops throughout the Caribbean and western Atlantic.
reef
Yellow Stingray
A small, boldly patterned stingray of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, often seen resting on sand near coral reefs and seagrass beds in shallow, clear water.
reef
Yellow Tang
A brilliant all-yellow surgeonfish common on Pacific coral reefs, especially around Hawaii, easily recognized by its disc-shaped body and sharp tail spine.
reef
Reef Stonefish
The reef stonefish is the classic, rock-mimicking stonefish of coral reef flats, considered one of the most venomous fish in the sea and virtually invisible against reef rubble.
reef