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
Spotted tinselfish
Xenolepidichthys dalgleishi
This is a quirky deepwater tinselfish with a shiny silver body sprinkled in black polka-dots. Juveniles sport crazy-long fin spines, and the species lives way down the continental slopes in cold, dim water. It is a marine oddball and not a realistic home-aquarium fish.
Striped clingfish
Derilissus vittiger
This is a tiny little Western Atlantic clingfish that lives down on deeper reefs and clings to hard stuff with its belly suction disk. Its whole vibe is cryptic and hidey, more like a micro-predator you would spot while peering into reef rockwork than a fish that cruises around the tank. Honestly, it is super cool biologically, but it is not a realistic home-aquarium species for most people.
Striped goby
Gobius vittatus
A small Mediterranean marine goby found mainly on coralligenous/rocky bottoms (often ~15-50+ m), known for its pale body with a dark lateral stripe; it is shy and retreats quickly to crevices. In aquaria it is a cool-water Mediterranean species rather than a typical tropical reef goby.
Stripefin poacher
Xeneretmus ritteri
This is that quirky, armored little bottom-creeper from deep, cold water off Southern California and Baja. It tops out around 16 cm and shuffles over soft mud with stiff, paddle-like fins, which is fun to watch. Super cool fish, but it really needs a chilled marine setup to be comfortable.
Stripefin ronquil
Rathbunella alleni
Rathbunella alleni is a little bottom-hugging coastal marine fish from California down into Baja, the kind that spends its time tucked around structure and cruising the seafloor. Its claim to fame is that slick blue stripe running along the anal fin (especially noticeable on males), plus that blenny-ish, prickleback vibe that makes it look like it belongs in a tidepool documentary.
Stripefin ronquil
Rathbunella hypoplecta
This is a little bottom-hugging California coast fish that hangs around rocky and sandy spots and spends a lot of time tucked into structure. It eats small invertebrates and the male actually guards the eggs, which is pretty cool if you are into fish with real parenting behavior.
Suborbital lanternfish
Diaphus suborbitalis
This is a little deep-sea lanternfish from the Indo-West Pacific that spends its life way down in the dark and uses photophores (light organs) like a built-in nightlight. It tops out around 7.3 cm standard length and is a true pelagic ocean fish, not something you will realistically see in the aquarium trade.
Sunda viviparous brotula
Ungusurculus sundaensis
This is a tiny little reef-dwelling brotula that lives tucked into cracks and crevices in very shallow water. The wild thing about these guys is they are livebearers (viviparous), which is pretty unusual among marine fishes, and they tend to be super cryptic and solitary.
Tanaka's possum wrasse
Wetmorella tanakai
This is one of those tiny, sneaky reef wrasses that basically lives in the rockwork and pops out to hunt little micro-bugs all day. The red-orange body with thin white bars and those little "eye spots" on the fins make it a really cool "where did that fish come from?" kind of addition. It is super peaceful, but it does best in a mature reef where it can graze and not get pushed around.
Tchefou cardinalfish
Jaydia tchefouensis
Jaydia tchefouensis is a little marine cardinalfish (Apogonidae) originally described from Chefoo/Tche-Fou (modern Yantai), China. Real talk: this name is kind of messy in the literature and may actually be a junior synonym of Jaydia lineata, so you will almost never see it sold under this exact ID in the aquarium trade. Like other cardinalfish, expect a shy, nocturnal vibe that hangs near structure and picks off small meaty foods.
Thompson's poacher
Freemanichthys thompsoni
Freemanichthys thompsoni is a temperate, demersal marine poacher (family Agonidae) from the northwestern Pacific, reported from roughly 10–300 m depth and reaching about 22 cm total length. Because it is a coldwater/deeper-water species, it is rarely suitable for typical tropical marine aquaria and would require specialized chilled, high-oxygen systems if kept.
Threadfin seasnail
Rhodichthys regina
This is a deep-sea snailfish from the Arctic and far North Atlantic - not an aquarium fish at all, but a really neat oddball from way down in the cold and dark. It lives on or right above the bottom and cruises around picking off crustaceans, and in life it can be bright red which is wild for something from 1000+ meters down.