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 255 species
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).
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.
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.
Zanclus cornutus
Moorish idols are that black-white-yellow reef fish with the long streamer off the dorsal fin - they look like theyre floating more than swimming. In the wild they cruise reefs in pairs or little groups and pick at sponges and other encrusting critters all day. Theyre gorgeous, but the big challenge in aquariums is getting them eating well long-term.
Ulaema lefroyi
Ulaema lefroyi is that shiny silver beach mojarra with the crazy-protrusible mouth, always nosing around sandy bottoms for little critters. Adults hang out along sandy shores and inlets and they can show a neat mottled/banded look that helps them blend over sand. Its a true saltwater fish, so think marine setup, not a community freshwater tank.
Forsterygion malcolmi
This is a little New Zealand temperate reef triplefin that spends its time parked on rockwork, peeking out from overhangs and holes like a tiny goby-meets-blenny. It is a crustacean-and-snail picker in the wild, and its whole vibe is "hang close to cover and watch everything" - super cool if you like natural behavior more than flashy open-water swimming.
Wattsia mossambica
This is a deep-water emperor bream that hangs around rocky/coral reef edges on the outer continental shelf. It gets big (around 22 inches max) and is a benthic hunter that cruises the bottom for invertebrates and small fish - super cool fish, but it is absolutely not an aquarium species for typical home setups.
Owstonia merensis
Owstonia merensis is a tiny deepwater bandfish from the western Pacific - think slope/reef-edge trawl depths, not a reef tank fish. It stays small (around 5.7 cm standard length in the literature) and lives way down where water is cool, dark, and super stable, which is why it is basically never a realistic home-aquarium species.
Xestochilus nebulosus
Xestochilus nebulosus is a slender marine snake eel that spends a lot of its time buried in sand or tucked into weed bottoms, usually popping out when its ready to hunt. It is the kind of fish you set up for its secretive, burrower lifestyle rather than constant open-water swimming, and it absolutely rewards a tank with a deep, soft sand bed and tight fitting lid.
Gobiodon acicularis
This is that tiny, jet-dark coral goby with the cool needle-like first dorsal spine - it basically lives tucked into branching corals and just perches all day like it owns the place. Super cryptic and chill, but it is way happier (and easier to keep eating) when it has a real coral head or tight branching structure to call home.
Zearaja nasuta
Zearaja nasuta is a big, cold-water skate from New Zealand that spends its time on the bottom, often half-buried in sand. It is an egg-layer that drops those classic "mermaid's purse" capsules in sandy or muddy areas, and it hunts down fish, crabs, shellfish, and worms. Super cool animal, but not something that belongs in a normal home aquarium due to its size and cold marine needs.