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
Oluolus hatchetfish
Polyipnus oluolus
Polyipnus oluolus is a tiny deepwater marine hatchetfish from the Marshall Islands that lives out in the open ocean and uses little light organs (photophores) on its body for camouflage and signaling in the dim water. It is super cool from a biology standpoint, but its pelagic deep-sea lifestyle makes it basically a non-aquarium species for normal hobby setups.
Orange bellowfish
Notopogon fernandezianus
Notopogon fernandezianus is the orange bellowfish, a weird little deepwater "trumpet fish" with a long snout and a tall, humped body. It lives way down on the continental shelf and slope (roughly 150-580 m), so its natural world is cold, dark, and high-pressure - basically the opposite of a home aquarium. Super cool to look at, but not a realistic species to keep alive long-term in normal hobby setups.
Oriental bluespotted maskray
Neotrygon orientalis
Neotrygon orientalis is a smallish bluespotted maskray from the Indo-Malay/Philippines region - a bottom-hugging marine ray that cruises sandy areas and reefy flats. Its disk is sprinkled with blue spots and it has that classic "mask" marking around the eyes, but its real "wow" factor is how much space and clean sand it needs to live well. This is one of those animals that gets mislabeled as "a stingray for big home tanks" when it really belongs in public-aquarium-level setups.
Pacific bluestripe pipefish
Doryrhamphus melanopleura
This is one of the little flagtail pipefish with the long snout and that flashy tail fan with orange spots. In a calm reef tank it tends to hover around rock crevices and pick at tiny prey all day, so it is a super cool fish to watch - but it really needs gentle tankmates and frequent small meaty foods.
Pacific rock sole
Lepidopsetta bilineata
This is a cold-water right-eyed flatfish from the North Pacific that lives on sand-and-gravel bottoms and tops out around 2 feet. It is a bottom-hugging predator that munches worms, crustaceans, and other benthic critters, and it is really more of a public-aquarium/sea pen kind of animal than a home-tank fish.
Pajama Cardinalfish
Sphaeramia nematoptera
This little cardinalfish looks like it got dressed in a rush-polka-dot back half, bold stripes up front, and that neon-orange tail spot that really pops under reef lights. It's a super chill, "hang in the shadows" kind of fish that likes to hover around rockwork and just cruise calmly all day. If you keep a small group, they'll often tuck in together and make your tank feel instantly more alive without causing any drama.
Palau grenadier
Ventrifossa macroptera
This is a deepwater rattail (grenadier) that lives way down on the slope - think roughly 685-710 m - so it is absolutely not an aquarium fish in any normal sense. Cool details though: it has a dark first dorsal fin and a blackish pattern on the head, and it tops out around 40 cm (about 16 inches).
Panamanian lightfish
Yarrella argenteola
Yarrella argenteola is a deep-water lightfish from the Panama Gulf, living way down in the bathypelagic zone. Its whole deal is being a midwater, deep-sea predator-ish micronekton fish with light-organ family vibes - super cool biologically, but basically never an aquarium species because it comes from hundreds of meters down.
Parva goby
Valenciennea parva
Valenciennea parva is a little sand-flat sleeper goby (a Valenciennea "glidergoby") that hangs around clean sand patches near reefs, often as a bonded pair. In the wild it uses burrows and does this neat rocking/back-and-forth motion near the burrow, plus it will constantly sift and inspect the sand for tiny food.
Paxton's slickhead
Conocara paxtoni
Conocara paxtoni is a deep-sea slickhead from the Tasman Sea, and its whole vibe is pure "mystery fish" - its known record is from a single specimen taken around 2450 m deep. It's a fairly big, streamlined bathypelagic/benthopelagic fish (for a slickhead), but it is absolutely not an aquarium species (deepwater pressure/temperature requirements make that a no-go).
Pearly-finned cardinalfish
Jaydia poeciloptera
This is a nocturnal Indo-West Pacific cardinalfish that spends the day tucked away (even hiding in holes in soft mud) and comes out at night to feed. The really cool part is the breeding style - they pair up, and the male mouthbroods the eggs like a little floating nursery.
Peppered catshark
Galeus piperatus
This is a little deepwater catshark from the northern Gulf of California with a cool "peppered" look - fine black dots all over a gray body. It lives way down on the slope (hundreds to over a thousand meters deep), so its real-world conditions are cold, dark, and high pressure, which is why its not an aquarium fish in any normal sense.