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
Synchiropus splendidus
This is the classic mandarin dragonet-the little reef crawler that looks like someone hand-painted neon blue and orange squiggles onto a fish. It spends basically all day pecking at live rock for tiny pods, and at dusk you can sometimes catch the pair-spawning "rise" if you keep a bonded male/female. Absolutely reef-safe, but it's one of those fish that does amazing only when the tank is truly mature and full of microfauna.
Julidochromis transcriptus
This is a little Lake Tanganyika rock-dweller with bold black-and-white striping and that cool dark "masked" face. Give it a pile of rocks and tight caves and it will cruise around like it owns the place, especially once it pairs up. Small fish, big attitude - but in a manageable, "fun to watch" way if you plan the tank around territories.
Ogilbia mccoskeri
This is a tiny, super-secretive little reef brotula from the SW Caribbean that spends its life tucked into coral rubble and crevices. It is a bottom-hugging carnivore that picks off small mobile crustaceans, and you will mostly see it at dusk or when food hits the water. Cool fish, but it is absolutely not a typical aquarium species, so most "care" info out there is guesswork or confused with McCosker's flasher wrasse (totally different fish).
Kryptopterus paraschilbeides
Kryptopterus paraschilbeides is a small Mekong River sheatfish that does the whole sleek, no-dorsal-fin Kryptopterus look, but its body is more "normal catfish" than the super see-through glass catfish you usually see in shops. In the wild it moves with the flood cycle - heading into flooded forest at high water, then back to the main river seasonally - which is a pretty cool bit of behavior for a little catfish.
Jenynsia sanctaecatarinae
This is a little onesided livebearer from southern Brazil that stays pretty small, with males topping out around 3.7 cm and females around 4.2 cm. In a planted stream-style tank they are always cruising and picking at tiny foods, and like other Jenynsia they have that cool livebearer biology (no eggs to babysit). I'd treat them like a slightly feisty nano livebearer and give them space and a group so nobody gets singled out.
Kasatkia memorabilis
Kasatkia memorabilis is a tiny, eel-shaped marine prickleback from the Sea of Japan area that spends its life down on the bottom in nearshore water. Its whole vibe is "hide in cracks and hug the rocks," so if you ever did keep one, you would treat it more like a coldwater tidepool fish than a tropical reef fish.
Garra menderesensis
A small-bodied cyprinid endemic to Lake Işıklı and the Büyük Menderes River system (Turkey). Described in 2015 (originally as Hemigrammocapoeta menderesensis) and currently treated as Garra menderesensis. Aquarium husbandry information appears scarce; avoid extrapolating care requirements from unrelated Garra species without species-specific sources.
Dactyloscopus metoecus
This is a teeny sand-stargazer that spends its time buried with just the eyes poking out, waiting to ambush tiny prey. Super cool little "sand-periscope" behavior, but its whole lifestyle is basically built around being in clean marine sand, so it is not a typical aquarium fish at all.
Ecsenius midas
Midas blennies are those weirdly "blenny-but-also-open-water" fish that zip around the tank like a tiny golden torpedo, then duck into a hole like nothing happened. They'll even color-shift and loosely school with anthias in the wild, which is honestly one of the coolest behaviors you'll see in a reef fish.
Triplophysa minxianensis
This is a coldwater, fast-river Triplophysa from Gansu, China - a little bottom loach built for current, with that classic 'stone loach' shape and a life spent hugging the substrate. Its wild range seems pretty localized (Taohe River and upper Weihe), and in the hobby its care gets tricky mostly because it really wants cool, super-oxygenated water and a clean, river-style setup.
Bunocephalus minerim
This is a tiny little banjo catfish from Brazil that basically lives the stealth life - it melts into leaf litter and sand and you can go days thinking it vanished. Super chill fish, but it is one of those bottom hiders you feed with intention (sinking foods after lights-out), and it really appreciates a soft substrate to burrow into.
Fundulopanchax moensis
Fundulopanchax moensis is one of those West African stream killies where the males just light up once they settle in, especially in a dim, plant-packed tank. It is a non-annual killi (so not a "live fast, die young" puddle fish) and it really rewards you if you keep it covered and calm - they can be jumpy little rockets.