Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 275 species
Gold-marked shrimpgoby
Vanderhorstia auronotata
This is a tiny little shrimp-goby from Indonesia that hangs out on silty sand slopes and does the whole burrow-living thing with an Alpheus snapping shrimp. The cool part is the bright orange-yellow spotting/lines over a pale body - it is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it gobies that looks even better up close than from across the tank.
Goldstripe ponyfish
Karalla daura
Silvery little schooling ponyfish with a bright gold stripe and that classic slipmouth look. They cruise muddy shallows in tight groups and, like other ponyfish, have a cool bacterial light-organ setup for signaling at night. Not a common aquarium fish, but super interesting if you are set up for marine schooling species.
Gorgeous prawn-goby
Amblyeleotris wheeleri
Amblyeleotris wheeleri is that classic shrimp-goby that picks a sandy spot, makes a burrow, and basically turns your tank into a little nature documentary if you pair it with a pistol shrimp. It hangs at the burrow entrance, does the whole lookout routine, and flashes those red bands and blue speckling when it is settled in.
Green-peritoneum snailfish
Paraliparis entochloris
Paraliparis entochloris is a deepwater snailfish from the northwest Pacific, and the name is basically calling out its weird party trick: it has a green peritoneum (the lining around the organs) that can show through the body wall. This is not an aquarium fish at all - it is a cold, deep, bottom-associated species that is mostly known from scientific collections rather than the hobby.
Gubal goatfish
Upeneus gubal
Upeneus gubal is a small Red Sea goatfish described in 2019 from the southern Gulf of Suez. It cruises sandy/muddy bottoms and uses its chin barbels to locate benthic invertebrate prey. With a reported maximum of 8.7 cm SL, it is smaller than most goatfishes, but still requires a large, long tank and fine sand to accommodate constant foraging behavior.
Halfbelt wriggler
Xenisthmus semicinctus
Xenisthmus semicinctus is a tiny little reef-dweller (barely 2 cm) from the Rowley Shoals off Western Australia. It is one of those blink-and-you-miss-it benthic fishes that lives right down on shallow coral reef habitat, kind of wriggling and hugging cover instead of swimming out in the open. Super cool fish biologically, but its so small and specialized that it is basically never seen in the normal aquarium trade.
Harlequin filefish
Oxymonacanthus longirostris
This is that super-cool orange-spotted, long-snouted filefish that hangs tight in branching Acropora like it's part of the coral. In the wild it's basically an Acropora-polyp specialist and usually lives in pairs, which is exactly why it's so tricky in home aquariums unless you're ready for the feeding challenge.
Hawaiian bandfish
Owstonia hawaiiensis
Owstonia hawaiiensis is a deepwater Hawaiian bandfish - a slim, rosy-red slope fish that hangs close to the bottom in the dark, cooler zones most divers never see. It is not really an aquarium fish in the normal sense, since it comes from deep water and would need specialized coldwater/deepwater life support to have a shot long-term.
Hawaiian cleaner wrasse
Labroides phthirophagus
This is the little reef "dentist" from Hawaii that sets up a cleaning station and does that classic flitty dance to invite other fish in. Its whole life revolves around picking parasites (plus mucus/scales) off clients, which is fascinating to watch but also exactly why it so often wastes away in typical home aquariums.
Hawaiian surf sardine
Iso hawaiiensis
Iso hawaiiensis is a tiny surf-zone silverside that lives right in the splashy, wave-battered edge of rocky headlands and reefs. Its whole vibe is fast, nervous, and built for rough water, so it is way more of a cool natural-history fish than a typical home-aquarium resident.
Highfin threadsail
Hime diactithrix
This is a deepwater little threadsail/flagfin from the Western Pacific that lives way down on the continental shelf. Its whole vibe is that tall, sail-like dorsal fin with warm orange spotting and bands, but because it comes from around 200-300 m it is basically never an aquarium fish in any normal sense.
Humpback unicornfish
Naso brachycentron
This is the big, open-water cruising unicornfish with that chunky hump on the back and a horn that really shows up on adult males. In the ocean youll see them in small groups (sometimes big schools) working reef slopes and rocky areas, grazing algae and just covering ground all day. In aquariums the main thing is simple: it gets enormous and needs a truly massive, stable system to thrive.