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.
Atlantic Cod
A large, heavy-bodied bottom fish with a distinctive chin barbel and three dorsal fins, the Atlantic Cod is one of the North Atlantic's most historically significant and heavily studied fish species.
saltwater
Pacific Cod
A heavy-bodied, bottom-dwelling relative of the Atlantic Cod found across the cold North Pacific, recognized by its large head, chin barbel, and mottled brown coloring.
saltwaterTadpole Cod
The tadpole cod is a tiny, translucent Gadiform fish named for its tadpole-like shape, found in warm surface waters worldwide and distinguished by its thread-like forward pelvic fins.
pelagic
Ling Cod
A large, elongated predator of the North Pacific coast known for its mottled camouflage and cavernous, tooth-filled mouth. Despite the name, it is not a true cod but a member of the greenling family.
saltwater
Greenland Cod
The Greenland cod is a stocky, cold-adapted cod relative found in shallow coastal Arctic waters around Greenland and eastern Canada, distinguished by its deep body and short head.
saltwater
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
Poor Cod
The poor cod is a small, golden-brown Gadidae common around rocky reefs and harbors of the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, identified by its short chin barbel and dark pectoral-fin blotch.
saltwater
Rock Cod
Rock cod is a common name for numerous Sebastes rockfish species found on rocky Pacific reefs, identified by their deep, spiny-finned body and mottled camouflage coloration.
saltwater
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
Antarctic Cod
Antarctic cod is a bottom-dwelling notothenioid fish of the Southern Ocean, adapted to near-freezing water and recognized by its mottled brown, camouflaged body and broad head.
saltwater
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 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
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.
pelagicAtlantic Herring
A slender, silvery schooling fish that forms some of the largest shoals in the North Atlantic, feeding on plankton and serving as a key forage species for larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.
pelagic
Atlantic Salmon
An iconic anadromous fish of the North Atlantic, born in cold rivers, maturing at sea, and returning to natal streams to spawn.
freshwater
Atlantic Wolffish
A large, eel-like cold-water fish with powerful crushing jaws, sheltering solitarily in rocky dens across the North Atlantic.
saltwater
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
Atlantic Hagfish
The Atlantic hagfish is a primitive, eel-like, jawless scavenger known for producing enormous quantities of defensive slime and for its ability to feed inside the carcasses of dead or dying animals on the seafloor.
deepsea
Atlantic Pollock
A fast, schooling North Atlantic gadid with a dark streamlined body and pale lateral line, often found swimming in open water over the shelf.
pelagic
Atlantic Mudskipper
An amphibious goby that hops and skips across mangrove mudflats using muscular pectoral fins, breathing air through its skin and mouth lining when out of water.
brackish
Atlantic Saury
A slender, silvery, beaked fish of the open North Atlantic, closely related to needlefish, recognized by its elongated jaws and a row of small finlets near the tail.
pelagic
Atlantic Flyingfish
A streamlined, silvery flyingfish of the tropical Atlantic that uses its oversized wing-like pectoral fins to glide over the surface for long distances to escape predators.
pelagic
Atlantic Halibut
The Atlantic halibut is the largest flatfish species, a right-eyed flounder with a diamond-shaped body found on cold seabeds of the North Atlantic.
saltwater
Atlantic Bonito
A streamlined, fast-swimming relative of tuna and mackerel, marked by dark oblique stripes running across its steel-blue back.
pelagic