Search Species
Search for fish species by common or scientific name, or use filters to browse by water type, size, temperament, and difficulty.
Found 419 species
Abe's eelpout
Japonolycodes abei
Japonolycodes abei is a temperate, deepwater demersal eelpout (family Zoarcidae) endemic to Japan (Kumano-nada Sea reported; other sources also report Sagami Bay and Tosa Bay). It is the only species in the genus Japonolycodes and occurs roughly 40-300 m depth, making it an uncommon/atypical aquarium species.
Affinis blind cusk-eel
Barathronus affinis
Barathronus affinis is a tiny, super-weird deep-sea blind cusk-eel from the western-central Indian Ocean. It is one of those gelatinous, loose-skinned brotula-type fishes that live way down in the dark and are basically never seen alive, so almost everything we know comes from preserved specimens and taxonomic work.
African red snapper
Lutjanus agennes
This is a true snapper from West Africa - a big, fast-growing predator that goes from coastal reefs to brackish lagoons and estuaries (especially as a juvenile). Super cool fish in the wild, but it gets absolutely huge and will eat smaller tankmates once it has the mouth for it, so its really more of a public-aquarium scale animal than a home-aquarium fish.
Aleutian skate
Bathyraja aleutica
This is a big, cold-water deep-slope skate from the North Pacific that cruises muddy bottoms and eats chunky benthic prey like crabs and shrimp. The really cool bit is its egg-laying skate life - it does distinct pairing (the classic skate "embrace") and drops those tough egg cases on the seafloor. Not an aquarium fish at all unless you're basically running a public-aquarium-style chilled system.
Annandale's zebra sole
Zebrias annandalei
Zebrias annandalei is a small, bottom-hugging sole from coastal India that lives on sandy/muddy flats and spends its life glued to the substrate. Its whole deal is camouflage and "disappearing" behavior like other soles - cool fish, but not really a typical home-aquarium species and you would need a proper marine sand-bottom setup to even try it.
Arabian spiny eel
Notacanthus indicus
Notacanthus indicus is a deep-sea spiny eel (family Notacanthidae; not a true eel) known from the Arabian Sea on the continental slope at roughly ~960–1,046 m depth, with reported maximum length around 20 cm TL; it is a deep-water bycatch species and not established in the aquarium trade.
Arctic rockling
Gaidropsarus argentatus
This is a deepwater North Atlantic rockling (a cod relative) that hangs out on soft bottoms way down the slope. It is a cold-water, bottom-hugging predator that snoots around for crustaceans and will also take small fish when it gets the chance.
Atlantic pomfret
Brama brama
Brama brama is the Atlantic pomfret (aka Ray's bream) - a deep-bodied, open-ocean pelagic fish that cruises around in small schools and follows water temps. It is a legit big, wild marine species (not an aquarium fish) that eats other small sea critters like fish and squid, and it ranges across a huge chunk of the Atlantic plus parts of the Indian and South Pacific.
Australian sawtail catshark
Figaro boardmani
Figaro boardmani is a small, deepwater Australian catshark with these cool saw-like ridges of spiny denticles along the tail and a neat pattern of dark saddle bands. It lives way down on the outer continental shelf and slope, so its natural water is cold, dim, and stable - totally not a typical home-aquarium fish. Diet-wise its a predator that goes after fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods.
Banded stargazer
Kathetostoma binigrasella
This is a New Zealand stargazer that lives half-buried in sand or mud with its eyes pointed up, waiting to rocket upward and nail passing prey. It has those neat dark saddle-bands across the back (especially as a juvenile), and like other stargazers it is venomous with spines near the gill cover/pectoral area - definitely a look-dont-touch fish.
Banggai Cardinalfish
Pterapogon kauderni
Banggai cardinals just sort of hover like little underwater satellites, and the bold black bars with those long, polka-dotted fins look unreal under reef lighting. They're super chill most of the time, but once a pair forms you'll see real "fish drama," and the male will even mouthbrood the babies like a champ.
Barbados vent eelpout
Thermarces pelophilum
This is a deep-sea eelpout that was collected at cold seeps off Barbados - think pitch-black, high-pressure ocean bottom, not an aquarium fish. It tops out around 12.4 cm and basically lives in a world of mud, methane, and seep life, which is a pretty wild niche for a fish.