Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 528 species
Long tail pipefish
Festucalex prolixus
This is a tiny little marine pipefish from the Western Central Pacific, and it tops out around 3.6 cm standard length. What's wild is that most of what we know comes from planktonic specimens collected in the upper water column, with adults expected deeper than about 40 m - so it is not really an aquarium species you will run into.
Longtooth snake eel
Yirrkala macrodon
Yirrkala macrodon is a tropical marine snake eel (worm eel family) from the western Pacific around Borneo, and it lives that classic burrower lifestyle in sand or rubble. Its whole vibe is "hide most of the day, then cruise and ambush" - and like most snake eels, it is an escape artist if your lid has gaps.
Lowfin moray
Gymnothorax porphyreus
Gymnothorax porphyreus is a chunky, cold-to-cool water moray from the South Pacific that hangs out on rocky reefs and wedges itself into caves with just the head out. It tops out around a meter long, so it is absolutely a big, powerful predator even though it is not one of the giant 2-meter morays. If you ever see one offered for home aquariums, the big gotcha is temperature - this is not a tropical reef eel.
Lucap sole
Zebrias lucapensis
A small marine demersal sole (family Soleidae) described from Lucap Bay / Hundred Islands area of Lingayen Gulf, Philippines; known from very limited records. Aquarium care information is not species-specific in the literature; if kept, husbandry would likely follow general small marine sole/flatfish needs (fine sand, peaceful tankmates, benthic meaty foods).
Lyretail dottyback
Pseudochromis steenei
Pseudochromis steenei is a punchy little reef dottyback from Indonesia and northern Australia that loves living in the rockwork and claiming a cave as its own. Its lyre-shaped tail and bold purple-yellow look really stand out, but its attitude can be bigger than its body, so tankmate choice matters.
Mabahiss lightfish
Vinciguerria mabahiss
Vinciguerria mabahiss is a tiny deepwater lightfish from the Red Sea that uses rows of photophores (light organs) for counter-illumination - basically a living stealth mode in the midwater dark. Its whole lifestyle is mesopelagic (open-water, deep), so its "care" is really more science-lab territory than home aquarium stuff.
Machete
Elops affinis
Elops affinis is a sleek, super-silver coastal predator (a ladyfish) that cruises surf zones, bays, and estuaries in schools and will happily push into brackish lagoons. Its life cycle is pretty cool - spawning happens offshore, and the clear, ribbon-like larvae drift in toward the coast before they grow into those fast, fork-tailed little missiles.
Maculate panray
Zanobatus maculatus
Zanobatus maculatus is a small coastal panray from the Gulf of Guinea with a blotchy, spotted top-side pattern and a bottom that can look pale/creamy to orange-brown. It is a demersal (bottom-living) marine ray that hangs out on sandy (and often muddy) shallows, and it is mostly a bycatch species in local fisheries rather than something you will realistically see in the aquarium trade.
Maltzan's goby
Wheelerigobius maltzani
This is a tiny West African coastal goby that lives right down on the bottom in warm, shallow inshore water. Its big appeal is the "little predator" vibe - it perches, scoots, and hugs structure like a classic goby, but its real-world habitat is marine shoreline rather than a typical freshwater community setup.
Mandarinfish
Synchiropus splendidus
This is the classic mandarin dragonet-the little reef crawler that looks like someone hand-painted neon blue and orange squiggles onto a fish. It spends basically all day pecking at live rock for tiny pods, and at dusk you can sometimes catch the pair-spawning "rise" if you keep a bonded male/female. Absolutely reef-safe, but it's one of those fish that does amazing only when the tank is truly mature and full of microfauna.
Mangrove whipray
Urogymnus granulatus
This is a large, heavy-bodied whipray with a dark disc sprinkled with small pale spots and a distinctive white tail beyond the sting. It uses shallow inshore habitats including mangroves and estuaries (juveniles often in brackish areas). Juveniles have been documented actively producing clicking sounds during aggregations/defensive interactions.
Mannar croaker
Johnius mannarensis
A little Indian Ocean croaker from the Gulf of Mannar, this guy tops out around six inches and hangs near the bottom picking at crunchy snacks. It really does croak using muscles on its swim bladder, which is fun to hear but it also means a meaty diet and a roomy, stable marine setup. Not a common aquarium fish, and it will eat bite-size tankmates, so plan a species-focused tank if you try it.