Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 275 species
Mottled triplefin
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.
Munahosi cardinalfish
Ostorhinchus cheni
Think of a deepwater cardinalfish with a moody, reddish body, two slim dusky stripes, and a bold spot at the tail base. It hangs in the shadows, cruises slowly, and the male mouthbroods eggs, which is wild to watch if you ever see it happen. Super cool fish, but it comes from 70-100 m and prefers cooler marine temps, so it is definitely a specialist project.
Murray Island bandfish
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.
Narrowbody handfish
Pezichthys compressus
A very small, demersal Australian handfish (family Brachionichthyidae) that uses its modified fins to move along the seafloor. It is an extremely rare deepwater species known from very few records, and it is not an established aquarium species.
Narrowhead catshark
Bythaelurus tenuicephalus
Bythaelurus tenuicephalus is a tiny deepwater catshark from the western Indian Ocean with a really narrow head and snout (the name is basically calling it out for that). It lives way down around 463-550 m, so its "normal" world is cold, dark, and stable - definitely not something that fits typical home aquarium life.
Needlespine coral goby
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.
New Zealand rough skate
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.
no established common name
Zagadkogobius ourlazon
This is a tiny deep-water wormfish from the South China Sea, topping out around 1.8 cm. It was described from a single specimen taken near the Anambas Islands at about 73 m, so you never see it in the hobby; the giveaway features are a big dark spot under the eye and wispy first-dorsal filaments.
No established common name
Xenisthmus nigrolateralis
Tiny wriggler from Taiwan with a bold dark stripe down its side that makes it easy to pick out when it peeks from the sand. It hugs shallow reef flats and sandy patches and snacks on teeny crustaceans, so in a tank it would do best with plenty of fine sand and microfauna to graze.
Northern ronquil
Ronquilus jordani
Coldwater little rock-hugger from the eastern North Pacific, hanging around boulders and kelp where it sneaks along the bottom. Males can show subtle orange-yellow highlights while the fish peeks from crevices and ambushes tiny critters. If anyone keeps one, a chilled saltwater setup and tons of rockwork are the move.
Northern smoothtongue
Leuroglossus schmidti
This is a coldwater deep-sea smelt from the North Pacific that spends its days deep and comes up at night to hunt zooplankton. Super cool little "midwater" fish from the dark zone - but its near-freezing temps and deepwater lifestyle mean its basically not an aquarium species at all.
Oblique-swimming triplefin
Forsterygion maryannae
A small New Zealand triplefin found over rocky reefs (reported ~1–50 m). It is unusual among triplefins for schooling in the water column above reefs and feeding on planktonic crustaceans (e.g., copepods/euphausiids), often holding an oblique body posture.