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
East Indian lipsucker
Andamia heteroptera
This is one of those wild intertidal blennies that clings to wave-battered rocks with a sucker-like lower lip and will even pop out onto damp rock when conditions let it. In the ocean its whole lifestyle is about hanging on in the splash zone, grazing and picking at tiny foods between surges, so it is a super cool fish but honestly not a typical "throw it in a reef tank" kind of species.
East Indies siltgoby
Amblygobius cheraphilus
This is a tiny little sand-and-silt goby from the western Pacific that hangs around soft-bottom areas near reefs and spends its time picking/sifting for small critters. Its look is super clean and subtle - grayish with two reddish-brown stripes and a dark spot on the gill cover - and it is one of those fish that really wants a fine, mature substrate to graze on. Because it is not a standard-import aquarium fish, most of the hard care numbers you see for it are best treated as 'typical Amblygobius/sand-sifting goby' rather than species-proven.
East-Pacific ventbrotula
Ventichthys biospeedoi
This is a deep-sea cusk-eel that lives right around hydrothermal vents on the Southeast Pacific Rise - basically the fish equivalent of hanging out next to an underwater volcano. Its thick skin and other oddball body features are thought to be adaptations for that extreme vent neighborhood, and it seems to be a scavenger/predator on small stuff down on the bottom.
Eckstrom's topknot
Zeugopterus regius
A small left-eyed flatfish from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, this little ambush hunter hugs rocky bottoms and blends in crazy well. It tops out around 8 inches and snags tiny fish and shrimp that wander too close. Super cool fish to see while diving, but it really wants chilly water and a very big, specialized tank.
Eelpout
Oidiphorus brevis
This little eelpout hangs out way down in frigid water off Patagonia and the Falklands, so you are never going to see it in a home tank. It tops out around 11.5 cm and lives on the seafloor between about 135 and 900 m, picking at benthic critters. Cool fish, just more of a deep-sea curiosity than an aquarium candidate.
Elongate duckbill eel
Saurenchelys elongata
Saurenchelys elongata is a skinny, deepwater duckbill eel - basically a living piece of spaghetti with a long, pointed snout. It is not an aquarium fish in any normal sense (it is a marine, bathydemersal species), and it is the kind of animal you mostly see in research catches, not at fish stores.
Elongate shore-eel
Alabes elongata
Alabes elongata is a tiny, eel-shaped marine shore fish from Western Australia that lives right in the shallow reef and seagrass zone. It looks like a little slippery noodle with reduced fins, and it spends its time tucked into weed/reef structure rather than cruising the open water. This is the kind of oddball you appreciate for its weird body plan and secretive lifestyle, not because its going to be out front begging for food.
European seabass
Dicentrarchus labrax
This is the classic Mediterranean/NE Atlantic seabass (the restaurant branzino) - a super sleek, silver predator that cruises shorelines, harbors, and estuaries. Juveniles will school, but bigger adults get more solitary and are built to inhale shrimp and smaller fish. It can handle brackish water and a pretty wide temp swing, but it is absolutely not a typical home-aquarium fish because it gets huge and needs serious swimming room.
Evermann's cardinalfish
Zapogon evermanni
This is a reef cave-dwelling cardinalfish that likes to hang way back in the shadows and will even cruise the cave ceilings upside-down, which is super fun to watch. It is more of a dusk/night kind of fish, usually seen alone or in pairs, and it is a mouthbrooder like a lot of cardinalfish.
Evermann's snake eel
Ophichthus lithinus
A long, snake-like burrower that spends most of its time hidden in sand or mud with just the head peeking out, waiting to ambush snacks. It gets big and is a total escape artist, so it needs a deep sand bed and a rock-solid lid if anyone ever tries it in a tank.
Exquisite wrasse
Cirrhilabrus exquisitus
This is one of those fairy wrasses that looks like it was painted with highlighters - males can shift through greens, reds, blues, and purples depending on mood and whether they are showing off. In a reef tank its usually out and cruising the water column, grabbing tiny meaty foods, and doing little display flare-ups at its own reflection or other wrasses. Biggest real-world gotcha is they are jumpers, so a tight lid or mesh top is basically mandatory.
Falcate snailfish
Careproctus cypselurus
Careproctus cypselurus (falcate snailfish) is a marine, bathydemersal snailfish (Liparidae) from the North Pacific (off Japan and from the Sea of Okhotsk to off Washington, USA), recorded from deep water (about 35–1993 m). It is not a typical aquarium species due to its deep-sea/coldwater ecology and specialized life-support needs.