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.
Moorish Idol
An unmistakable disc-shaped reef fish with bold black-white-yellow bands and a dramatically long trailing dorsal fin.
reef
Penguin Tetra
An Amazonian characin recognized by its bold black tail stripe and unusual head-up swimming posture resembling a penguin's stance.
freshwater
Tiger Shovelnose Catfish
A large South American river catfish with a distinctive flattened, shovel-shaped snout and bold black stripes across a pale body.
freshwater
Serpae Tetra
A vividly red-bodied tetra with a bold black shoulder patch, known for its assertive, nippy temperament within shoaling groups.
freshwater
High-hat
A striking black-and-white striped reef drum related to the jackknife-fish, easily recognized by its tall, elongated dorsal fin.
reef
Threespot Dascyllus
A robust black-bodied damselfish bearing three white spots in youth, one of the most widespread dascyllus species on Indo-Pacific reefs.
reef
Snowflake Moray
The Snowflake Moray is a mottled black-and-yellow reef eel with blunt, crushing teeth adapted for feeding on crabs and shrimp rather than fish.
reef
Spotfin Croaker
A robust surf-zone drum from Southern California and Baja, easily identified by a bold black spot at the base of each pectoral fin.
saltwater
Spotted Seatrout
A slender estuarine predator of the southeastern United States, recognized by the bold black spots scattered across its silvery back and dorsal fin.
brackish
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
Pristella Tetra
A translucent, pale-golden tetra whose semi-transparent body reveals internal structures, marked by distinctive black-and-yellow fin patches.
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
Convict Tang
A pale gray surgeonfish marked with six or seven bold black vertical bars, resembling a prisoner's uniform, that grazes algae in large schools.
reef
Butterfly Splitfin
A striking Mexican livebearer known for its black body, yellow-orange tail band, and unusual reproductive biology shared with other goodeids.
freshwater
Sergeant Major
A common silvery damselfish marked with five bold black vertical bars, resembling military rank stripes, found on shallow tropical reefs.
reef
Powder Blue Tang
A vivid powder-blue surgeonfish with a black facial mask and white throat patch, common on shallow reef edges across the Indian Ocean.
reef
Madagascar Rainbowfish
An elongated, silvery rainbowfish from Madagascar's eastern rainforest rivers, recognized by its bold black-edged yellow and red fin markings.
freshwater
Celebes Rainbowfish
A slender, sail-finned rainbowfish endemic to Sulawesi, easily recognized by its tall, translucent dorsal and anal fins edged in black and yellow.
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
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
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
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
Clown Knifefish
A knife-shaped Southeast Asian fish with a distinctive row of large black eyespots along its rear body and a long, continuous ventral fin.
freshwater
Bar Jack
A sleek, blue-green jack with a dark stripe along its back and a black-and-white striped tail, common on Caribbean and western Atlantic reefs.
reef