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.
Thick-lipped Gourami
A small, hardy Myanmar labyrinth fish closely related to the Dwarf Gourami, distinguished by its noticeably thickened lips and reddish-blue diagonal banding in breeding males.
freshwater
Spotted Boxfish
The Spotted Boxfish shows striking sexual dimorphism: males are blue with orange-edged spots and yellow stripes, while females and juveniles are black covered in white spots.
reef
Squarespot Anthias
A schooling Indo-Pacific anthias; territorial males display a bold rectangular magenta-purple patch on an orange body, while females stay uniformly peach-colored.
reef
Fairy Wrasse
A dazzling small reef wrasse in which males flash iridescent shades of red, purple, and blue during courtship displays over coral rubble and reef slopes.
reef
Buffalo Head Cichlid
A stocky, bottom-dwelling cichlid from the fast rapids of the Congo River, the buffalo head cichlid is named for the pronounced fatty hump that develops on the forehead of mature males.
freshwater
Cuckoo Wrasse
A vividly patterned wrasse of the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, with males displaying bold blue and orange stripes and females a softer pink patterned with black-edged white spots.
reef
Princess Parrotfish
A Caribbean parrotfish whose blue-green terminal males show bright orange and blue face stripes over a green body.
reef
Seahorse
An unmistakable upright-swimming fish with a horse-like head and curled prehensile tail, notable for males carrying and giving birth to offspring.
reef
Peacock Blenny
A shallow-water Mediterranean blenny in which breeding males grow a tall fleshy head crest and a bold eyespot on the dorsal fin.
saltwater
Rainbow Wrasse
A slender Mediterranean and eastern-Atlantic wrasse; terminal males have a vivid orange zigzag stripe along a blue-green body.
saltwater
Bleeding Heart Tetra
A deep-bodied upper Amazon characin marked by a small red 'bleeding heart' spot and, in males, a dramatic elongated dorsal fin.
freshwater
Ribbon Eel
The Ribbon Eel is a slender, brightly colored moray that changes from a black juvenile to a blue male to a yellow female over its lifetime while anchored in a sand burrow.
reefPouched Lamprey
The pouched lamprey is a jawless, eel-shaped fish named for the fleshy throat pouch that develops in breeding males, migrating from the open ocean into Southern Hemisphere rivers to spawn.
brackish
Green Swordtail
The naturally colored, wild-type form of the swordtail, the green swordtail displays an olive-green body with a red-brown stripe and the species' signature elongated tail extension in males.
freshwater
Rainbow Killifish
A vividly patterned annual killifish from Mozambique's seasonal floodplain pools, with males displaying a rainbow of red, blue and orange scale colors.
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
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
Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish
A pint-sized New Guinea rainbowfish and one of the smallest Melanotaenia species, known in the aquarium trade for its saturated blue-violet males.
freshwater
Emerald Rainbowfish
A deep-bodied rainbowfish endemic to Lake Wanam in Papua New Guinea, with mature males displaying a brilliant iridescent emerald-green sheen.
freshwater
Common Dragonet
A sand-dwelling northeastern Atlantic fish with striking sexual dimorphism, males growing a dramatically elongated dorsal fin and long tail streamers.
saltwater
Wrestling Halfbeak
Named for the ritualized jaw-locking contests between rival males, the wrestling halfbeak is a slender surface-dwelling fish from Southeast Asian creeks and mangrove-fringed brackish waters.
brackish
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
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
Golden Topminnow
A small southeastern U.S. killifish whose males show golden-yellow coloring with iridescent blue-green spotting. It favors quiet, well-vegetated ponds, swamps, and slow backwaters.
freshwater