Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 528 species
Dark-barred goatfish
Upeneus luzonius
This is a small demersal goatfish from the western Pacific associated with muddy coastal substrates. It swims in aggregations (sometimes mixed with similar species) and uses chin barbels to forage. It is silvery with a reddish mid-lateral line that breaks into spots and a red bar below the eye.
Darkfin sculpin
Malacocottus zonurus
This is a deep-water North Pacific sculpin that spends its life down on the bottom, basically a cold, dark, high-pressure fish. It can get surprisingly big for something most people never see alive, and its "care" is really more public-aquarium/chiller-system territory than home tanks.
Darom's goatfish
Upeneus davidaromi
A deep-water Red Sea goatfish with a bold, banded tail and bright white chin barbels, it cruises the bottom and snuffles through sand for tiny critters. Super interesting behavior to watch, but it is a large, active marine fish from 150-500 m that is rarely (if ever) seen in the hobby and would need a very big, well-run system.
Decorated dragonfish
Eustomias decoratus
Eustomias decoratus is a deep-sea dragonfish (family Stomiidae) from the western central Atlantic around Bermuda. Like other Eustomias, it is a pelagic predator built for the dark - long body, big mouth, and a chin barbel used in hunting and signaling. This is absolutely not an aquarium species in any normal sense, since its real habitat is open ocean at depth and it will not tolerate typical captive conditions.
Deep-sea cutthroat eel
Dysommina rugosa
This is a true deep-sea eel that hangs out along continental slopes hundreds of meters down, topping out around a foot long. The wild footage from American Samoa is wild - big swarms of these little cutthroats tuck into crevices around the Nafanua cone at Vailulu'u volcano, a spot scientists nicknamed Eel City. Super cool animal, but not one for home tanks.
Deep-sea dragonfish
Bathophilus kingi
Bathophilus kingi is a small bathypelagic barbeled dragonfish (family Stomiidae) recorded from the Western Central Pacific (Papua New Guinea) and the Southeast Pacific (Chile). It inhabits deep open water from near the surface to about 1,100 m and is a predatory species. It is not suitable for aquaria; deep‑sea pressure, cold, and darkness are beyond home‑tank conditions and survival typically requires specialized systems used by research/public aquaria.
Deep-water arrowtooth eel
Dysomma intermedium
Dysomma intermedium is a marine cutthroat eel from the South China Sea off Vietnam, described in 2024 and currently only known from its type series. It is an eel-shaped, bottom-associated fish that lives around 50-80 m depth, so its "aquarium care" is basically not a normal home-hobby species situation. Cool bit of trivia: FishBase lists no established common name for it, which is pretty typical for newly described deepwater eels.
Demon Stingerfish
Inimicus caledonicus
This is that sand-burying, venom-spined ambush predator you sometimes see labeled as a demon stinger or goblinfish. It literally "walks" on its front fin rays and will sit camouflaged until a shrimp or small fish wanders too close. Awesome to watch, but very much a specialist fish that needs careful handling and the right tankmates.
Dense-scale lanternshark
Etmopterus pycnolepis
This is a small deep-sea shark that literally glows, thanks to rows of tiny photophores along its body. It sticks to cold, dark water on the Nazca and Sala y Gomez ridges and tops out around 20 inches, so it is a cool species to read about rather than try to keep. If you ever see one pictured, check out the dense, sandpaper-like skin and the subtle glow patterns.
Diamond Watchman Goby
Valenciennea puellaris
This is that sand-sifting goby you'll see cruising the bottom, taking huge mouthfuls of sand and spitting it out like a little construction crew. It's awesome for keeping a sandy substrate looking clean, but it'll also redecorate-so anything sitting on the sand is gonna get buried or undermined sooner or later. Super cool personality too, especially once it picks a favorite burrow and starts "working" all day.
Disalvo's goby
Kelloggella disalvoi
Kelloggella disalvoi is a tiny little marine goby from Easter Island that tops out at just a couple centimeters, the kind of fish that can disappear in a rockscape if you blink. It is more of a cryptic, tidepool-style goby than a "show fish," so the fun is watching it perch, scoot, and hug the bottom like a little living punctuation mark.
Distant goby
Lythrypnus insularis
Lythrypnus insularis is a tiny little reef goby from the Revillagigedo Islands (Mexico) that hangs tight to rocky reef crevices and walls. Its reddish body with lots of narrow blue bars is super slick up close, and because it is only about an inch long, it lives a very "hide, peek, and dart" kind of life in the rocks.