Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 451 species
Yunnan jieyu (云南结鱼)
Folifer yunnanensis
A rare freshwater cyprinid endemic to Lake Fuxian (Yunnan, China). Reported maximum length is about 21.5 cm standard length (SL). IUCN status: Endangered (assessment date 19 January 2011). Aquarium care information appears scarce in mainstream hobby references.
Yushan river loach
Hemimyzon yushanensis
This is a little Taiwan hillstream loach that lives its whole life clinging to rocks in fast, super-oxygenated streams. In a tank it does best in a "river" setup with smooth stones and lots of flow, where it will spend all day grazing biofilm and cruising the glass like a tiny underwater gecko.
Zebra Danio
Danio rerio
Zebra danios are those nonstop little stripey rockets that zip around the top and middle of the tank like they've had three espressos. They're super fun in a group because they chase, spar, and "race" each other without really meaning harm, and that constant motion makes the whole tank feel alive.
Zebra Mayan cichlid
Mayaheros zebra
Mayaheros zebra is one of those Yucatan Peninsula "Mayan cichlid group" fish that looks like a smaller, striped version of the better-known Mayan cichlid. The big gotcha is that a lot of modern checklists treat "zebra" as a form/synonym within Mayaheros urophthalmus rather than a clearly separate aquarium species, so you will almost always see it discussed under the Mayan cichlid umbrella.
Zebra pleco
Hypancistrus zebra
This is the famous black-and-white striped L-number pleco (L046) from the Rio Xingu, and it really does look like a little underwater zebra. Its best traits are how cavey and secretive it is by day, then it pops out at night to hunt meaty foods - and the male will guard eggs in a cave if you ever breed them. It is not an algae-cleaner pleco, so think of it more like a tiny, warm-water, rock-dwelling catfish with attitude over caves.
Zonatus sand catlet
Zaireichthys zonatus
Zaireichthys zonatus is a tiny little Congo River loach catfish that lives in fast, rocky water - it is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it micro predators. In an aquarium it is all about flow, oxygen, and lots of rock crevices, and the coolest part is watching it wedge itself into cracks and scoot around the bottom like a miniature river goblin.
Zucchini catfish
Isorineloricaria spinosissima
This is a truly giant Ecuadorian pleco that can end up longer than your forearm - it is basically a river bulldozer that spends its time grazing algae and plant growth off hard surfaces. The cool (and kind of wild) part is the strong sexual dimorphism with extra-long odontodes, plus those sharp gill-area spines that can snag nets, so you have to handle it with respect.