Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 235 species
Longspine drum
Umbrina analis
Umbrina analis is an Eastern Pacific sciaenid (drum/croaker) that inhabits inshore soft bottoms (sand/mud) from the tip of Baja and the SW Gulf of California to Colombia, typically near the bottom in surf zones, bays, and shallow coastal waters (about 1–50 m). It is a carnivore feeding mainly on mobile benthic invertebrates (crustaceans, worms, and mollusks).
Longtail pencilsmelt
Nansenia longicauda
This one is a deepwater pencilsmelt that lives way down in the mesopelagic zone, so its more of a research-species than an aquarium fish. It tops out around 13 cm and seems to show up in patchy spots in the subtropical Atlantic and North Pacific, typically hundreds of meters down.
Lucap sole
Zebrias lucapensis
A small marine demersal sole (family Soleidae) described from Lucap Bay / Hundred Islands area of Lingayen Gulf, Philippines; known from very limited records. Aquarium care information is not species-specific in the literature; if kept, husbandry would likely follow general small marine sole/flatfish needs (fine sand, peaceful tankmates, benthic meaty foods).
Mabahiss lightfish
Vinciguerria mabahiss
Vinciguerria mabahiss is a tiny deepwater lightfish from the Red Sea that uses rows of photophores (light organs) for counter-illumination - basically a living stealth mode in the midwater dark. Its whole lifestyle is mesopelagic (open-water, deep), so its "care" is really more science-lab territory than home aquarium stuff.
Maculate panray
Zanobatus maculatus
Zanobatus maculatus is a small coastal panray from the Gulf of Guinea with a blotchy, spotted top-side pattern and a bottom that can look pale/creamy to orange-brown. It is a demersal (bottom-living) marine ray that hangs out on sandy (and often muddy) shallows, and it is mostly a bycatch species in local fisheries rather than something you will realistically see in the aquarium trade.
Maltzan's goby
Wheelerigobius maltzani
This is a tiny West African coastal goby that lives right down on the bottom in warm, shallow inshore water. Its big appeal is the "little predator" vibe - it perches, scoots, and hugs structure like a classic goby, but its real-world habitat is marine shoreline rather than a typical freshwater community setup.
Mandarinfish
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.
Marquesas dwarf flounder
Engyprosopon marquisense
This is a tiny deepwater lefteye flounder from the Marquesas Islands - one of those little sand-hugging ambush fish that looks like a leaf until it moves. Super cool biologically, but honestly not a realistic home-aquarium fish since it comes from 108-408 m depths and there is basically no established hobby care info for the species.
Marshall's grenadier
Coryphaenoides marshalli
This is a deep-sea grenadier (rattail) from the Gulf of Guinea - think big head, huge eyes for the dark, and that classic long tapering tail. It lives way down on the slope, so it's not an aquarium fish in any realistic sense, but it's a really neat example of how fish are built for cold, high-pressure life.
McCosker's coralbrotula
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).
Mekran ponyfish
Deveximentum mekranense
This is a small ponyfish from the Gulf of Oman off Iran, and like other ponyfishes its whole vibe is being a little bottom-hugging, silvery coastal fish. It is a pretty recent species description (2021), and its natural range is very localized, so you are not going to see it come through the aquarium trade in any normal way. If you ever did encounter one, you would treat it like a delicate wild marine schooling fish rather than a typical hardy "saltwater beginner" fish.
Memorable rearspined fin prickleback
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.