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
Butterfly stingaree
Urolophus papilio
This is a deepwater little stingray from the Chesterfield Islands area (Coral Sea), with a super wide, diamond-shaped disc that earned it the butterfly name. It is a bathydemersal species recorded around 330 m deep, so its needs are basically the opposite of a normal home aquarium ray - cold, high pressure habitat, and not something the hobby can realistically support.
Cameroon goby
Wheelerigobius wirtzi
This is a tiny little marine goby from the Gulf of Guinea that hangs out shallow on rocky faces. Its whole vibe is "small, shy, and clingy to cover," so it does best when you give it lots of rockwork and calm tankmates. Not something you see in shops often, but its micro-goby size and habitat style make it a really interesting oddball.
Campeche Bank hamlet
Hypoplectrus espinosai
This is a hamlet (a small serranid) that lives on shallow coral reefs on the Campeche Bank off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Its max recorded size is under 10 cm, and in the wild it is described as a diurnal, solitary little predator that hangs around the reef picking off meaty prey.
Canarytop wrasse
Halichoeres leucoxanthus
Bright yellow up top with a clean white belly, this wrasse has that lemon-meringue vibe, and mature males show slick violet lines on the face. It sleeps buried in the sand and spends the day cruising the rockwork picking off tiny pests - super active but easygoing. Give it a secure lid because they can launch when startled.
Candy Hogfish
Bodianus bimaculatus
Think of this little hog as a bright-yellow torpedo with pink-red candy stripes and two telltale black dots. It zips around the rockwork all day, nosing and even blowing into crevices for snacks, and it stays small enough to fit a modest reef as long as you plan around tiny shrimp.
Candystick goby
Vanderhorstia delagoae
This is a shrimp-associated sand goby from the western Indian Ocean and Red Sea area, and it spends its life hovering right by a burrow (usually shared with a snapping shrimp). In a tank it is all about a fine sand bed and feeling secure - when its setup is right, you get that cool watchman-style behavior and constant "standing guard" at the entrance.
Cantor's croaker
Johnius cantori
Johnius cantori is a tiny little tropical croaker from the eastern Indian Ocean, and its whole claim to fame is how obscure it is - FishBase lists it as known only from the holotype collected in Malaysia. Like other croakers, it lives near the bottom in coastal waters, making it unlikely to be found in aquarium trade.
Cape codling
Lepidion capensis
Lepidion capensis (Cape codling) is a deep‑sea morid cod recorded off southern Africa from the Cape west coast into the western Indian Ocean to Madagascar. It reaches about 50 cm TL and is taken on the continental slope (e.g., research trawls around ~466–606 m). This is not an aquarium species.
Capitlineata silhouette goby
Silhouettea capitlineata
This is a super tiny tropical marine goby that basically lives its life glued to the bottom, blending in and keeping a low profile. The neat name clue is the "head lines" - it was named for dark lines running down from the eye, so its face patterning is part of the whole deal. Because it tops out around an inch, its care info in the aquarium hobby is pretty scarce compared to bigger, commonly-sold gobies.
Cartier's deepwater snake eel
Benthenchelys cartieri
A deepwater marine snake eel (Ophichthidae) known from the Philippines (Western Central Pacific). FishBase notes members of the genus Benthenchelys are pelagic; recorded depth range to 1168 m. Not an established aquarium species.
Chereshnev's horsefish
Zanclorhynchus chereshnevi
This is a weird, cold-water Southern Ocean bottom-dweller from around the Prince Edward Islands. It is a deep, polar marine fish (recorded down to at least 170 m) and not something that shows up in the aquarium trade - it would need chilled, high-oxygen seawater and a public-aquarium style setup.
Chessboard blenny
Starksia sluiteri
A tiny reef-dweller with bold chessboard spots, this little blenny spends most of its time peeking from rubble and rock crevices. It is fun to watch during feeding time as it darts out to snag tiny crustaceans, then zips back to its hidey-hole.