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 249 species
Gymnoscopelus opisthopterus
This is a coldwater deep-sea lanternfish from the Southern Ocean that spends its life way down in the dark and uses photophores (light organs) like a little living constellation. Its habitat is near-freezing and very deep, so it is really a research-specimen kind of fish rather than something that can be kept in a normal aquarium.
Jenkinsia stolifera
Jenkinsia stolifera is a tiny, super-flashy little round herring from Florida and the Caribbean that spends its life in tight, nervous schools near the surface. In the wild it is basically living fish confetti - tons of silver, constant motion, always picking at zooplankton - and that "always on the move" vibe is what makes it so cool. It is not really an aquarium species though; most setups cannot provide the huge swimming room, flow, and constant live plankton-style feeding it does best with.
Glyptophidium argenteum
Glyptophidium argenteum is a deepwater/bathydemersal cusk-eel (Ophidiidae) from the Indo-West Pacific (e.g., Bay of Bengal to the Philippines) recorded hundreds of meters deep. It is primarily known from scientific/monitoring collections and deepwater fisheries bycatch rather than the aquarium trade.
Verilus cynodon
Verilus cynodon (silver splitfin) is a deepwater marine "ocean bass" kind of fish from the western Indian Ocean, usually caught way down the slope rather than anywhere near reefs. Its whole deal is being a small, silvery, toothy little predator that lives in the dark zone (roughly 100-570 m), so its care is basically not practical for normal home aquariums.
Jaydia photogaster
Jaydia photogaster is a small, nocturnal cardinalfish from the western Pacific that hangs around deeper lagoon patch reefs and tends to be seen solo or in little loose groups. The really neat bit is the silvery belly light-organ system (hence the name) and the subtle dusky bars down the sides - it is one of those understated fish that looks way cooler the longer you stare at it.
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
The Sixline Wrasse is that nonstop little reef torpedo that weaves through rockwork all day hunting tiny critters. It's awesome for picking at pests like small worms/flatworms, but once it settles in it can get pretty territorial-especially in smaller tanks or with similar-shaped fish.
Hyporhamphus snyderi
This is a sleek little open-water halfbeak from the Tropical Eastern Pacific, with that classic underbite beak and a silvery body with dark lines along the back. Its whole vibe is cruising the surface in a school, so if you ever tried keeping one you would be planning around swimming room and a seriously escape-proof lid.
Sciadonus pedicellaris
Sciadonus pedicellaris is a rare deep-sea livebearing brotula (family Bythitidae) with a very slender body, small deep-set eyes, and loose translucent skin; it occurs at bathyal to abyssal depths and is not suited to typical aquarium care. The name refers to the stalk-like (“pedicellate”) pectoral-fin base.
Dipturus pullopunctatus
This is a South African deep-water skate that lives way out on the shelf/upper slope, not something that belongs anywhere near a home aquarium. It gets big (around 1.3 m max reported) and is a bottom-dwelling predator, so it needs cold, high-oxygen marine conditions and huge space to swim and rest properly.
Johnius hypostoma
Johnius hypostoma is a little Indo-Pacific croaker (drumfish) that lives over the bottom in shallow coastal saltwater. Its claim to fame is basically being a compact, small-mouthed, nearshore sciaenid - more of a local food/fishery species than something you will normally see in the aquarium trade.
Gnathophis microps
Gnathophis microps is a deepwater marine conger eel from off Western Australia, and its little eyes make a lot of sense once you realize it lives way down around 200-320 m. Cool fish on paper, but its deep, cold-ish habitat means it is basically not a realistic home-aquarium species (think public-aquarium level life support).
Facciolella smithi
This is a deep-water witch eel (duckbill eel) that was only described recently, from off the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea. It's a long, ribbon-bodied, soft-sediment bottom-dweller with that weird duckbill snout and small deep-sea eyes - super cool, but not something you can realistically keep in a normal home aquarium.