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 254 species
Barathronus roulei
Barathronus roulei is a deep-sea bythitid/brotula-type fish from the Northeast Atlantic, recorded from deep water (e.g., ~1349 m). It is extremely rarely encountered and not an aquarium species due to collection and decompression/pressure constraints.
Zalieutes elater
Zalieutes elater is a weird little "walking" batfish that lives on sand and mud bottoms and basically scoots around like a tiny sea creature robot. The coolest giveaway is the pair of orange-and-black eye-spots (ocelli) on its back, plus it has a short anglerfish-style lure it uses to ambush small crustaceans and fish.
Bembrops greyi
The roundtail duckbill (Bembrops greyae) has the classic duckbill appearance with its broad, flattened head and a mouth designed for catching prey. Its natural home is way down on the slope, so its care is basically "public-aquarium only" rather than something that realistically fits a normal home setup.
Gramma loreto
Royal grammas are that classic purple-to-yellow Caribbean basslet that likes to claim a cave and hover around it (sometimes totally upside-down under a ledge). They're usually chill with tankmates, but they can get spicy with other grammas/basslets/dottybacks if space is tight-give them rockwork and a "home" cave and they settle right in.
Ventrifossa saikaiensis
This is a deepwater grenadier (rattail) from the western Pacific - the kind of fish that lives way down on the slope where its "aquarium" is basically cold, dark, and high pressure. It tops out around 25 cm and has that classic rattail look with a chin barbel, plus a ventral light organ. Cool animal, but realistically its not an aquarium species at all unless youre talking public-aquarium level coldwater deep-sea systems.
Quinca mirifica
This is a chunky, almost jet-black cardinalfish with a crisp white tail and an absurdly tall second dorsal fin - it looks like it belongs in a comic book villain lair. It hides in caves and crevices by day and comes out to hunt at night, and the males mouthbrood the eggs (with a wild courtship color change to bright silvery-white). It is a super range-restricted Western Australia species, so you do not see it often in the hobby.
Iso nesiotes
Iso nesiotes (Samoan surf sardine) is a very small surf-zone marine fish (family Isonidae) reported from places such as American Samoa and Pitcairn Island, inhabiting surf and waves around rocky headlands and reefs. Maximum reported size is about 4 cm TL; detailed life-history and aquarium husbandry information is limited.
Urolophus bucculentus
This is a deepwater Australian stingaree that hangs out on soft bottoms along the outer continental shelf, not something you will ever see in a normal home aquarium. It tops out around 80-89 cm and has that classic diamond-shaped disc and a tail spine, so it is very much a "look, dont touch" kind of ray.
Lesueurigobius sanzi
Sanzo's goby is a small offshore goby from the eastern Atlantic and western Mediterranean that lives out on muddy sand/mud bottoms in fairly deep water. Its whole vibe is a subtle, bottom-hugging demersal fish rather than a rockpool goby, so its "best life" is more about open sandy areas than reefy structure.
Xanthichthys ringens
Xanthichthys ringens is that slick, open-water-ish Atlantic trigger that looks like it got dusted with tiny freckles, then finished off with a red-trimmed tail. In the wild it hangs on deeper reef slopes and the juveniles cruise around floating Sargassum, which is just a cool life story for a trigger. Its vibe is generally calmer than the really nasty trigger species, but it is still a triggerfish with real teeth and opinions once it settles in.
Lepidoblepharon ophthalmolepis
Deepwater bathydemersal citharid flounder from the western Pacific, reported from ~310–428 m on mud bottoms. Notable for very large eyes on the right side that are covered with scales. Rare and apparently not marketed; aquarium husbandry is essentially undocumented and this species is not a practical home-aquarium fish.
Karalepis stewarti
This is a New Zealand triplefin that hugs rocky reef structure and comes out more at night, so you often spot it perched and watching everything rather than cruising the water column. It tops out around 15 cm and lives in cool-temperate coastal water, picking at tiny crustaceans and mollusks.