Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 541 species
Vanmanenia loach
Vanmanenia striata
A sleek hillstream loach from Yunnan that hugs rocks and zips along in strong current like a tiny suction-cup surfer. It spends its day grazing biofilm and algae off smooth stones, so a lively, well-oxygenated tank with lots of flow and footprints of rock is where it really shines.
Vanmanenia loach
Vanmanenia ventrosquamata
A rarely seen hillstream lizard-loach from northern Vietnam, this little sucker-bodied grazer hugs rocks and zooms around in the current. It shines in a mature, high-oxygen tank with algae and biofilm to munch, and it will show tons of personality once it settles in.
Vardar streber
Zingel balcanicus
This is a super niche Balkan river perch relative that lives right down on the bottom in fast, well-oxygenated current. It is a gravel-and-boulder stream fish that hunts small bottom critters, and its tiny natural range is a big part of why it is so imperiled in the wild.
Variable platyfish
Xiphophorus variatus
Think of this as the cooler-water cousin of the regular platy that comes in all kinds of colors and patterns. They are lively little livebearers that cruise the whole tank, pick at algae, and pop out fry without much fuss. Give them some plants and a bit of flow and they are a joy to watch.
Veilfin tetra
Hyphessobrycon elachys
This is one of those tiny Paraguay-basin tetras that looks kind of understated until the males mature and start throwing those longer, flowy fins - then it gets really classy. Keep them in a proper little group and theyll spend the whole day hovering and cruising the midwater, looking extra sharp over dark substrate and plants.
Velvet Catfish
Rita gogra
Think of this as a chunky, velvety-gray river catfish with a big noggin and a chill attitude toward anything it cannot swallow. It hangs around the bottom, loves driftwood hidey-holes, and eats like a champ, but small fish are snacks, so tankmates need to be sturdy and similar-sized. Give it room to cruise and good flow and it settles in nicely.
Velvety sole
Brachirus villosus
This is a true freshwater sole from New Guinea that spends most of its life glued to the bottom and buried in soft sand. It is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it fish during the day, then you catch it cruising the substrate at feeding time looking for meaty bits.
Vietnamese bitterling
Acheilognathus fasciodorsalis
Acheilognathus fasciodorsalis is a freshwater bitterling endemic to Vietnam. Like other bitterlings (Acheilognathidae), reproduction involves females using an ovipositor to deposit eggs in freshwater mussels.
Virgatula dwarf pike cichlid
Wallaciia virgatula
This is one of the little "dwarf" pike cichlids (recently moved out of Crenicichla into Wallaciia), so you get that sleek pike-cichlid look and attitude in a genuinely small package. Expect a smart, ambushy micro-predator vibe - it will hang around cover, watch everything, then dart in like a mini torpedo when food hits the water.
Vogelkop river garfish
Zenarchopterus ornithocephala
A slim, surface-cruising halfbeak from the Bird's Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula of West Papua, Indonesia. It hangs right under the surface and snaps up insects with that quirky long lower jaw, so a tight lid and some floating cover are must-haves. Not a beginner fish, but super cool to watch once it settles in.
Wallace's dwarf pike cichlid
Wallaciia wallacii
A small "dwarf" pike cichlid (genus Wallaciia) from South America. Maximum recorded size is about 8.5 cm standard length; provide ample cover/structure and expect territorial behavior, especially around spawning.
Wataka
Ischikauia steenackeri
Wataka is a temperate Japanese freshwater cyprinid that tops out around 30 cm (about 12 inches), so it is way more of a pond or public-aquarium fish than a typical home-tank species. In the wild it is tied to the Lake Biwa-Yodo River system, and it is actually listed as Endangered, which is pretty wild for a fish that looks like a sleek, silver "river carp".