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
Gobius vittatus
A small Mediterranean marine goby found mainly on coralligenous/rocky bottoms (often ~15-50+ m), known for its pale body with a dark lateral stripe; it is shy and retreats quickly to crevices. In aquaria it is a cool-water Mediterranean species rather than a typical tropical reef goby.
Rathbunella alleni
Rathbunella alleni is a little bottom-hugging coastal marine fish from California down into Baja, the kind that spends its time tucked around structure and cruising the seafloor. Its claim to fame is that slick blue stripe running along the anal fin (especially noticeable on males), plus that blenny-ish, prickleback vibe that makes it look like it belongs in a tidepool documentary.
Puntigrus tetrazona
Tiger barbs are little chaos nuggets in the best way-super active, always zipping around, and they look awesome with those four bold black bars and orange fins. The big trick is keeping them in a proper-sized group so they roughhouse with each other instead of shredding a slow, long-finned tank mate's fins.
Chaetostoma tachiraense
This is a small mountain Chaetostoma from the Catatumbo (Lake Maracaibo) drainage, the kind of fish that wants to be plastered to rocks in high-oxygen water. It stays around 3.4 inches SL, spends its time grazing biofilm, and does best when you treat it more like a river fish than a typical warm, lazy pleco.
Wetmorella tanakai
This is one of those tiny, sneaky reef wrasses that basically lives in the rockwork and pops out to hunt little micro-bugs all day. The red-orange body with thin white bars and those little "eye spots" on the fins make it a really cool "where did that fish come from?" kind of addition. It is super peaceful, but it does best in a mature reef where it can graze and not get pushed around.
Ernstichthys taquari
This is a tiny little banjo catfish from Brazil that lives right on the bottom and blends in with rocks, sand, and leaf litter. Its known habitat is shaded, vegetated stretches of a small whitewater river with moderate flow and lots of big rocks - very much a hide-and-sit-still kind of fish. In the aquarium hobby its basically a "research fish" right now: super cool, but there is almost no species-specific care data published.
Jaydia tchefouensis
Jaydia tchefouensis is a little marine cardinalfish (Apogonidae) originally described from Chefoo/Tche-Fou (modern Yantai), China. Real talk: this name is kind of messy in the literature and may actually be a junior synonym of Jaydia lineata, so you will almost never see it sold under this exact ID in the aquarium trade. Like other cardinalfish, expect a shy, nocturnal vibe that hangs near structure and picks off small meaty foods.
Zoogoneticus tequila
This is a little Mexican goodeid livebearer where the males get that awesome orange crescent in the tail and will spar and posture like tiny cichlids. They do best in a planted tank where they can duck into roots and stems, and once they're settled they'll breed steadily and you'll see lots of interesting social behavior.
Alburnus istanbulensis
Endemic to Turkey, occurring in coastal streams of Thrace (Marmara to SW Black Sea drainages) and Lake Sapanca; a small, silvery pelagic cyprinid (bleak/shemaya type).
Iriatherina werneri
This is the little rainbowfish with the ridiculous, delicate streamers - especially on the males, who love to posture and "dance" at each other in a calm planted tank. Keep them in a real group and they get way braver, cruising the top/midwater under floaters and showing off those thread-like fins. They are peaceful, but they really hate fast flow and rough tankmates that shred fins or outcompete them at feeding time.
Aphyosemion trilineatus
Aphyosemion trilineatus is a small West African killifish from Cameroon that does best in a calm, plant-heavy setup with gentle filtration and a tight lid (they can jump). Males top out around 5.1 cm and look way flashier than females, and like most Aphyosemion they are happiest when you keep things on the soft, slightly acidic side and do changes slowly.
Gasterosteus aculeatus
The three-spined stickleback is a small, armored fish with bony lateral plates and three prominent dorsal spines used for defense. Males become striking in breeding condition, often developing a red throat/belly and intensified coloration while they build and guard nests. It is highly active and behaviorally interesting, but can be nippy and territorial, especially during breeding.