Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 285 species
Arraya's bluntnose knifefish
Brachyhypopomus arrayae
This is a weakly-electric South American knifefish that cruises around plants and root mats and does most of its business after lights-out. It is a pretty subtle-looking fish (more earthy browns than flashy colors), but the cool part is the whole electric-sense lifestyle and that smooth, hovering knifefish swim.
Austellus barb
Dawkinsia austellus
Dawkinsia austellus is a freshwater cyprinid endemic to southern India (Western Ghats region). It is an active, shoaling barb best maintained in a group in a spacious, well-filtered aquarium with good oxygenation and regular maintenance.
Avacanoeiro whiptail catfish
Lamontichthys avacanoeiro
This is one of those rarer Lamontichthys whiptails from Brazil that looks like it was built for fast water - long, armored, and made to hug the bottom in current. In the wild its from the upper Rio Tocantins basin, and in a tank it will really appreciate super clean, oxygen-rich water and lots of smooth surfaces to graze.
Bailian cave loach
Micronemacheilus bailianensis
A small freshwater nemacheilid (stone loach) described from Bailian Cave near Liuzhou City, Guangxi, China; maximum recorded size about 4 cm SL. Troglobitic/cave-associated species with limited natural distribution.
Bajiang Yunnan loach
Yunnanilus bajiangensis
This is a tiny Chinese stone loach from Yunnan that lives down on the bottom and stays pretty small (around 6.5 cm max). Honestly, its "cool factor" is more about being a super-local river fish than being a flashy aquarium species - and because it is listed as Critically Endangered, its conservation status is the big headline here.
Banded Batasio
Batasio fasciolatus
This is a small hillstream bagrid catfish from the Tista drainage up in the Brahmaputra system. It spends a lot of time tucked under rocks and comes alive more at dusk and at night, so the more caves and crevices you give it, the more you will actually see it. The vertical banding is super sharp in good condition, and they really appreciate cool, oxygen-rich flow.
Banded dwarf three-barbel catfish
Nannoglanis fasciatus
This is a tiny little Ecuadorian heptapterid catfish with bold banding - a real under-the-radar oddball that almost never shows up in shops. Since there is basically no solid aquarium-care literature for it, I would treat it like a small, shy, bottom-hugging Amazon/upper Amazon tributary catfish: lots of cover, gentle flow, and clean, well-oxygenated water.
Barred topminnow
Quintana atrizona
This is a tiny Cuban livebearer that likes to lurk in thick plants and do that classic livebearer "hover and peck" routine all day. The cool part is the subtle black barring and how the fish kind of vanishes into floating plants, then pops right back out when food hits the water.
Barrens topminnow
Fundulus julisia
Fundulus julisia is a rare Tennessee Barrens Plateau topminnow that lives near the surface in springs and spring-fed creeks, often around aquatic vegetation, feeding largely on small aquatic insects. It is federally listed as Endangered (U.S., 2019) and is the focus of captive propagation and reintroduction efforts.
Bearded shoveljaw carp
Onychostoma barbatum
Onychostoma barbatum is a freshwater cyprinid from China. Adults inhabit streams with gravel bottoms and reach about 17.6 cm standard length; aquarium care should emphasize high water quality and strong oxygenation typical of stream-dwelling cyprinids.
Bishop toothcarp
Brachyrhaphis episcopi
This is a tiny Panamanian livebearer that does best when you treat it more like a shy wild fish than a fancy guppy-lots of cover, calm vibes, and really clean water. The fun part is watching the males posture and spar while the females cruise around dropping fully-formed fry about once a month.
Black carp
Mylopharyngodon piceus
This is the big mollusk-crushing carp with the crazy pharyngeal teeth - once it hits juvenile size it starts hunting snails and clams and, as an adult, it is basically built to eat shells. It gets absolutely enormous (think pond/lake fish, not aquarium fish), and it tends to cruise low and feed near the bottom.