Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 654 species
Osteochilus kerinciensis
Osteochilus kerinciensis
This is a mid-sized Southeast Asian cyprinid from Sumatra, and its whole world basically revolves around the Batang Hari drainage (including highland lakes like Lake Kerinci). Its wild range is pretty tight, and there is basically no solid aquarium-specific info out there for it, so if you ever see one in the trade its best to treat it like a riverine labeonin barb: clean water, lots of oxygen, and a calmer community setup with room to cruise.
Ouachita shiner
Lythrurus snelsoni
This is a little Ouachita Mountains native shiner that stays genuinely small (around 2 inches max), so its all about a tight school and lots of open swimming room. Like other Lythrurus, it can really color up when its happy and settled, especially if you keep it cool, clean, and in a group. Its not a hard fish once established, but its way less forgiving of warm, low-oxygen, dirty conditions than most beginner tropicals.
Pacific blue-eye
Pseudomugil signifer
Pacific blue-eyes are tiny Aussie "blue-eye" fish with those unreal electric-blue eyes and a nice little shimmer when they're in a group. Give them plants, gentle flow, and a proper shoal, and the males will posture and flare at each other in this super cool, non-lethal (usually) displayy way. They'll also tolerate a bit of salt (brackish), which is handy if you're doing an estuary-style setup.
Pacific bluestripe pipefish
Doryrhamphus melanopleura
This is one of the little flagtail pipefish with the long snout and that flashy tail fan with orange spots. In a calm reef tank it tends to hover around rock crevices and pick at tiny prey all day, so it is a super cool fish to watch - but it really needs gentle tankmates and frequent small meaty foods.
Pacific rock sole
Lepidopsetta bilineata
This is a cold-water right-eyed flatfish from the North Pacific that lives on sand-and-gravel bottoms and tops out around 2 feet. It is a bottom-hugging predator that munches worms, crustaceans, and other benthic critters, and it is really more of a public-aquarium/sea pen kind of animal than a home-tank fish.
Pacific sharpchin flyingfish
Fodiator rostratus
A sleek Eastern Pacific flyingfish that skims the surface on big pectoral "wings" and a pointy lower jaw. It is a super fast, open-water planktivore that will rocket right out of a tank, so it really needs public-aquarium scale water and a rock-solid lid. Watching them cruise the surface and burst into glide mode is wild.
Pajama Cardinalfish
Sphaeramia nematoptera
This little cardinalfish looks like it got dressed in a rush-polka-dot back half, bold stripes up front, and that neon-orange tail spot that really pops under reef lights. It's a super chill, "hang in the shadows" kind of fish that likes to hover around rockwork and just cruise calmly all day. If you keep a small group, they'll often tuck in together and make your tank feel instantly more alive without causing any drama.
Palau grenadier
Ventrifossa macroptera
This is a deepwater rattail (grenadier) that lives way down on the slope - think roughly 685-710 m - so it is absolutely not an aquarium fish in any normal sense. Cool details though: it has a dark first dorsal fin and a blackish pattern on the head, and it tops out around 40 cm (about 16 inches).
Palawan lentipes goby
Lentipes palawanirufus
Tiny river goby from Palawan where the males sport a fiery red head and a bold red band along the body. It lives in fast, sparkling streams and spends its day scooting over rocks to graze on biofilm, so in a tank it really shines with strong flow and algae-covered stones.
Pale cardinalfish
Taeniamia pallida
Tiny reef cardinal from Oman that hangs in loose groups under ledges and comes out to snack after lights-out. The dads mouthbrood the eggs, which is always cool to watch in this family. Think subtle silver-pale body with a little dark spot near the tail and easygoing vibes.
Pale sand catlet
Zaireichthys pallidus
Think of a teeny African catfish that vanishes into fine sand - that is the pale sand catlet. It spends its time right in the sandy shallows and will pop up to grab tiny bugs, so a soft sand bed and gentle flow really let it act like its wild self.
Pale Snailfish
Careproctus pallidus
Tiny orange snailfish from the kelp-y shallows of far southern Chile, topping out around 7 cm and clinging to rocks and kelp with its little suction disk. It is a coldwater marine oddball that you almost never see in home aquariums, but it is neat to know it bucks the deep-sea trend most snailfish follow. Reported from Tierra del Fuego and Chilean kelp beds at just a few meters depth, with modeled temps roughly 7-16 C. ([mapress.com](https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2005f/zt01019p025.pdf))