Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Water Type
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 356 species
Xiphophorus malinche
Xiphophorus malinche is a smaller, cooler-water swordtail from fast, clear rivers in Mexico, and the males can show a really neat golden-brown look with blue/purple sheen plus a short yellow sword. It is a livebearer, but it is not the "toss it in a warm community tank" kind of swordtail - it does best kept cool with very clean, oxygen-rich water.
Trichogaster chuna
Honey gouramis are those little chill labyrinth fish that spend a lot of time cruising the upper half of the tank and "feeling" around with their long thread-like belly fins. Give them plants (especially floaters) and calm tankmates and they really settle in-males can glow that warm honey/orange color and will build bubble nests at the surface.
Prodontocharax howesi
This is a tiny Amazon-basin cheirodontine characin associated with unusual jaw/tooth morphology in the Prodontocharax/Amblystilbe group. Recent revisionary work revalidated the genus Amblystilbe and treats Amblystilbe howesi as distinct; older secondary sources may list the fish under Prodontocharax howesi, so identification and naming can be inconsistent in non-specialist contexts.
Jaydia hungi
Jaydia hungi is a little marine cardinalfish from the western Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea) that spends its time down near the bottom and comes alive more at night. Like a lot of cardinalfish, the cool party trick is the male mouthbroods the eggs, so breeding behavior is way more interesting than you would guess from a small, silvery fish.
Foa hyalina
This is a tiny little reef cardinalfish that looks almost glass-clear with a few reddish-brown stripes, so it kind of vanishes when it hangs in soft corals. In the wild it tends to be solitary and it tucks itself into Sinularia-type soft coral for cover, then comes alive more at night like a lot of cardinals do. Like other apogonids, it is a mouthbrooder, so once you see a male holding, he will go off food for a bit.
Hypostomus albopunctatus
This one is a wild Brazilian Hypostomus from the Paranapanema River basin - basically a true armored suckermouth catfish, not something you usually see labeled clearly in shops. One big gotcha: the often-quoted max size of 3.5 cm is very likely based on a juvenile record, so I would not plan a tiny tank around it.
Knipowitschia iljini
This is a tiny Caspian Sea dwarf goby that sticks close to the bottom and tops out under 2 inches. The big catch is it is a deep-water, brackish/sea-influenced fish from the Caspian, so its real-world habitat needs (salinity, temperature, pressure/oxygen) make it a super uncommon aquarium candidate.
Imparfinis piperatus
Imparfinis piperatus is a tiny Brazilian heptapterid catfish that spends its time down on the bottom, scooting around like a little stream goblin. It stays really small (around 3.2 cm SL max), and the neat part is the subtle mottled/striped look and those long barbels that make it look way more "catfish" than its size suggests. Not super common in the aquarium trade, but it is a cool pick if you are into South American stream setups.
Lampanyctus indicus
Lampanyctus indicus is a tiny deep-sea lanternfish from the equatorial Indian Ocean. Like other myctophids it has rows of light organs (photophores) and does the classic up-and-down daily migration in the water column. Super cool animal, but realistically its a research/deep-ocean species, not an aquarium fish.
Parambassis ranga
This is the classic see-through "glassfish" where you can literally see the bones and organs-super cool in a planted tank with calm tankmates. They're happiest when you keep a little crew of them (they get braver and way more active in a group). Also: skip any dyed/painted ones-those fish are usually in rough shape from the process.
Iranocichla hormuzensis
This is the wild, oddball cichlid from southern Iran that lives in warm, salty streams where most other fish would tap out. It is a maternal mouthbrooder, and adults can go dark with silvery speckling - super cool fish, but not something I'd call forgiving if your water and temps swing around.
Knipowitschia punctatissima
This is a tiny little freshwater goby from northern Italy that spends most of its time glued to the bottom, scooting between sand, gravel, and cover. In the wild it is tied to cool, clear spring-fed habitats, so it does best in an oxygen-rich tank with gentle flow and lots of little hiding spots. Its size is cute, but its needs are kind of specific, and its wild status makes it a fish I would not treat as a casual impulse buy.