Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Water Type
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 255 species
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.
Quietula guaymasiae
This is a small, bottom-hanging goby from Mexico's Gulf of California, usually found in shallow estuaries and lagoons. The really cool bit is it can do facultative air-breathing, so its built for those warm, low-oxygen, mucky spots. Its not a typical community freshwater fish - think brackish/marine lagoon goby that wants sand or mud and calm water.
Upeneus gubal
Upeneus gubal is a tiny Red Sea goatfish that cruises over sand and mud and uses its little chin barbels to feel around for food. Its max size is under 9 cm standard length, so it is more of a "dwarf" goatfish compared to the bigger goatfish you see in the trade. Because it is a wild marine demersal species from the Gulf of Suez area, it is not something you will run into with a normal, well-established aquarium care playbook.
Urophycis cirrata
Urophycis cirrata is a deep-water phycid hake from the western Atlantic, and it has that classic "cod-family" look with a little chin barbel and long, feeler-like pelvic rays. Its whole vibe is muddy-slope bottom dweller, cruising around in colder water way deeper than any normal home aquarium is built to handle.
Crenidens macracanthus
A small marine sparid (seabream) from the Indian Ocean (FishBase: eastern Indian Ocean-India; also recorded from Pakistan) with distinctive incisor-like teeth; references note its diet is mainly algae and its dentition appears specialized for grazing. Rarely encountered in the aquarium trade; most information is from ichthyological sources rather than hobby care guides.
Labrisomus nuchipinnis
This is a chunky little rock-dweller that basically lives in holes and crevices and zips to the next hideout when it gets spooked. Males can show reddish color on the lower head and belly, and they are territorial spawners with the male guarding the eggs. Super cool fish to watch if you like cryptic, perch-and-pounce hunters more than open-water swimmers.
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.
Coris hewetti
Coris hewetti is a smaller Coris wrasse that (as far as records show) is only known from the Marquesas Islands in the eastern central Pacific. It cruises mixed sand-and-rubble areas picking at tiny bottom critters, and the males do a pretty wild little courtship display where they flare fins and even shift color.
Diplectrum labarum
Diplectrum labarum is a small serranid (sea bass relative) from the Tropical Eastern Pacific that hangs around sandy-muddy bottoms and eats meaty stuff like crustaceans and small fish. The cool part is the look: those tall, filament-y front dorsal spines plus the bold bars and tail-spot make it stand out fast when you see one.
Macruronus novaezelandiae
This is hoki (also sold as blue grenadier) — a deepwater, slope-associated marine fish found around New Zealand and southern Australia (and also off South America). It reaches about 1.2–1.3 m and lives in deep, cool waters, making it unsuitable for home aquaria.
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.
Jaydia hungi
Jaydia hungi is a little marine cardinalfish from the western Indian Ocean (including the Red Sea) that spends its time down near the bottom and comes alive more at night. Like a lot of cardinalfish, the cool party trick is the male mouthbroods the eggs, so breeding behavior is way more interesting than you would guess from a small, silvery fish.