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
Oceanic lightfish
Vinciguerria nimbaria
Oceanic lightfish is a tiny silvery glowbug that spends the day deep and then rides up toward the surface at night in big schools. It tops out around 5.5 cm and stuffs itself with copepods, making it prime fuel for tuna and other predators. Super cool pelagic fish, but it is a true open-ocean species and not a home-aquarium candidate.
Ochre-banded goatfish
Upeneus sundaicus
A sand-sifting goatfish with bright yellow barbels and faint ochre bands on the tail. It cruises the bottom in small groups, using those whisker-like barbels to root out worms and tiny crustaceans, so it needs a big tank with fine sand and lots of meaty feedings.
Ocular coralblenny
Ecsenius oculatus
Ecsenius oculatus is a tiny little reef-percher from the Christmas Island/Western Australia area that spends its day scooting between holes and ledges and watching you like it owns the place. It is an algae-and-film grazer by nature, so in a mature reef it will constantly pick at rocks and glass and do that classic blenny hover-and-hop routine.
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, the Orange bellowfish, is a bathydemersal bellowsfish occurring on the continental shelf and slope at 150–580 m in the Southeast Pacific (Juan Fernández–Nazca Ridge–Sala y Gómez, Chile) and the Southwest Atlantic (southern Brazil to Argentina). Temperatures in its range are cold (~11–17 °C). Its specialized deep‑cold habitat makes it unsuitable for typical home aquaria.
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.
Pacific sharpchin flyingfish
Fodiator rostratus
A sleek Eastern Pacific flyingfish that skims the surface on big pectoral "wings" and a pointy lower jaw. It is a super fast, open-water planktivore that will rocket right out of a tank, so it really needs public-aquarium scale water and a rock-solid lid. Watching them cruise the surface and burst into glide mode is wild.
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).
Pale cardinalfish
Taeniamia pallida
Tiny reef cardinal from Oman that hangs in loose groups under ledges and comes out to snack after lights-out. The dads mouthbrood the eggs, which is always cool to watch in this family. Think subtle silver-pale body with a little dark spot near the tail and easygoing vibes.