Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 419 species
Tiger watchman goby
Valenciennea wardii
This is one of those classic sand-sifting sleeper gobies that will stay busy all day taking mouthfuls of sand, picking out tiny foods, and spitting the clean sand back out. Super chill temperament, but it really wants a mature tank with a real sandbed so it can do its thing without slowly starving. Also heads-up: they can redecorate by burying frags and making little bulldozer trenches.
Toothed leftvent
Linophryne macrodon
This is a deep-sea anglerfish in the leftvent family, the kind of fish that lives way down in the dark and uses a little glowing lure to bring food right to its mouth. Females get a lot bigger than males (the males are tiny), and the whole vibe is pure deep-ocean weird in the best way.
Tosa stargazer
Uranoscopus tosae
Uranoscopus tosae is a stargazer that lives out on deeper sandy-muddy bottoms and does the classic stargazer thing - buries itself and waits to ambush prey. It is a venomous, bottom-sitting predator from the western Pacific, and it is really more of an ocean fishery/bycatch species than anything you would realistically keep in a home aquarium.
Toyama sculpin
Icelus toyamensis
This is a deepwater Japanese sculpin that lives down on the bottom, not a typical home-aquarium fish. It tops out around 13 cm and comes from cold, marine bathydemersal habitat, so it is really more of a public-aquarium or specialist coldwater setup animal than something for a normal reef or tropical tank.
Tubeshoulder
Mentodus mesalirus
Mentodus mesalirus is a deep-sea tubeshoulder - one of those wild ocean fish that can squirt a bioluminescent fluid from a special tube organ near the shoulder. It is not an aquarium species at all, but it is seriously cool from a biology standpoint because that light-producing setup is basically its whole claim to fame.
Twoarm humpback anglerfish
Dibrachichthys melanurus
This is a tiny, uncommon little anglerfish relative from northern Australia/Indonesia that hangs out on sandy-mud and rubble bottoms. Think of it like a mini ambush predator that spends its time sitting still and blending in, not cruising around the tank. It is super cool in a nerdy way, but it is absolutely not a normal aquarium species you will see in the trade.
Two-spined yellow-tail stargazer
Uranoscopus cognatus
Uranoscopus cognatus is a chunky little stargazer that spends its life on the bottom, often buried with just the eyes and mouth peeking up like a grumpy sand-trap. It is a marine ambush predator from the Indo-west Pacific, and while it is super cool to look at, it is really not a practical aquarium fish unless you are set up for a specialized predator tank.
Vanuatu goatfish
Upeneus vanuatu
Upeneus vanuatu is a small deep-water goatfish from off Vanuatu that lives way down around 191-321 m, so its natural water is cooler and darker than typical reef goatfish. Like other goatfish it has the little chin barbels for rooting around for food, but honestly this one is more of a scientific oddball than a realistic aquarium fish because of the depth it comes from.
Variegated cardinalfish
Fowleria variegata
This is a small, mottled reddish-brown cardinalfish that likes to hang around rockwork and rubble and really comes into its own once the lights dim. In a calm reef tank its a super chill, slow swimmer, and if you keep a small group they tend to hover together and look way more natural.
Vaubans gurnard
Lepidotrigla vaubani
Lepidotrigla vaubani is a small, bottom-dwelling marine gurnard (sea robin) from the western Pacific. Like other gurnards its "walking" pectoral fin rays are the fun part - it creeps along the seafloor poking around for little crustaceans and worms, way more personality than you would expect from a bycatch-type fish.
Vermiculated croaker
Ophioscion vermicularis
Eastern Pacific marine demersal croaker found over sandy and muddy bottoms in shallow waters; feeds on benthic invertebrates and is common in local markets. Aquarium care information is limited compared with typical ornamental marine species.
Vermiculated puffer
Takifugu snyderi
Takifugu snyderi (vermiculated puffer; Japanese: shōsai-fugu) is a demersal coastal puffer native to Japan and nearby northwest Pacific waters (including the Yellow Sea and South China Sea). It reaches about 30 cm standard length and feeds on hard-shelled prey such as crustaceans; like other fugu, certain organs (notably liver/ovaries) can be highly toxic (tetrodotoxin).