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.
Mangrove Snapper
A grayish snapper common along mangrove shorelines and estuaries of the western Atlantic, showing a faint dark stripe through the eye and a pointed, angular head.
brackish
Grey Snapper
The grey snapper, also called mangrove snapper, is an adaptable western Atlantic species with a dark reddish-grey body and a dark streak through the eye, ranging from mangrove estuaries to coral reefs.
reef
Snapper
A robust, reef-dwelling fish with a reddish-pink body and striking red eyes, common over rocky bottoms, reefs, and wrecks throughout the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic.
reef
Cubera Snapper
The largest snapper in the Atlantic, a heavy-bodied reef predator with oversized canine teeth. Adults hold near deep ledges and wrecks, while juveniles grow up in mangrove nurseries.
reef
Mutton Snapper
A rosy-pink Western Atlantic reef snapper marked by blue eye-lines and a small black spot below the dorsal fin, with elegantly pointed fin tips.
reef
Longspine Snapper
The longspine snapper is a slender, bright red deepwater snapper known for an elongated filament trailing from its dorsal fin, found on steep offshore slopes across the Indo-Pacific.
deepsea
Yellowtail Snapper
A slender Caribbean reef fish with a bold golden stripe running from snout to its deeply forked yellow tail. Often seen swimming in open water above reefs rather than hugging the bottom.
reef
Vermilion Snapper
A slender, vivid pinkish-red snapper of deep offshore reefs and hard bottom, feeding mainly on plankton picked from the water column rather than the substrate.
reef
Schoolmaster Snapper
The schoolmaster snapper is a yellow-tinged reef snapper of the western Atlantic, recognized by faint pale bars and a blue line beneath the eye, common around reefs, mangroves, and seagrass.
reef
Sailfin Snapper
The sailfin snapper is a striking Indo-Pacific reef fish with blue diagonal stripes, yellow fins, and a tall, flowing dorsal fin, often seen over sand patches near coral reefs.
reef
Red Snapper
A rosy-red snapper of the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. coast, recognized by its sloped profile, sharp triangular teeth, and bright red eyes.
reef
Lane Snapper
A small, silvery-pink schooling snapper marked by faint yellow stripes and a black spot near the tail base, common across shallow Western Atlantic reefs and seagrass.
reef
Dog Snapper
A robust, coppery-red Western Atlantic snapper named for its prominent canine teeth, identified by a pale triangular patch beneath the eye.
reef
Pacific Red Snapper
A bright reddish-pink snapper of rocky reefs along the Eastern Pacific coast from Mexico to Peru, closely resembling its Atlantic namesake but found in a different ocean.
reefTwo-spot Red Snapper
The two-spot red snapper, or bohar snapper, is a large, deep red Indo-Pacific reef predator, sometimes showing two pale saddle spots on the back, and an important predator on coral reef slopes.
reef
Mangrove Jack
A deep red Indo-Pacific snapper whose juveniles grow up in mangrove estuaries and rivers, tolerating salinities from freshwater to full seawater.
brackish
Vermilion Rockfish
A vivid orange-red rockfish of Pacific coast reefs, often called 'red snapper' informally by anglers despite being unrelated to true snappers.
saltwater
Hogfish
A large western-Atlantic wrasse with a pig-like snout and long front dorsal spines, able to rapidly change color.
reef
Bluebanded Sea Bream
An Indo-Pacific reef fish, actually a snapper, marked by diagonal electric-blue bands on yellow and trailing fin filaments in adults.
reef
Black Rockfish
A dark, deep-bodied schooling rockfish common over rocky reefs and kelp forests along the Pacific coast, often seen in large surface-oriented aggregations.
saltwater
Spangled Emperor
The spangled emperor is a large, pale grey-green emperor fish of the Indo-Pacific, marked by fine blue spangles on its scales and a strong, crushing jaw for cracking shellfish.
reef
Sauger
A slender, olive-gold relative of the walleye, best known for the rows of black spots on its spiny dorsal fin and its love of murky river currents.
freshwater
Blackspotted Puffer
The Blackspotted Puffer, also called the dog-faced puffer, is a small reef pufferfish with a gray, yellow, or blue body scattered with a few large dark spots.
reef
Yellow Seahorse
A widespread and highly variable Indo-Pacific seahorse, commonly seen in bright yellow though also occurring in black, orange, or mottled brown, found from mangrove estuaries to coral reefs.
reef