Fish That Start With A - Page 2 of 2
Browse all aquarium fish species with common names beginning with "A". Each profile includes care requirements, water parameters, tank size recommendations, and compatibility information for freshwater, marine, and brackish species.
Arnegard's electric fish
Petrocephalus arnegardi
This is a little Congo River elephantfish (a weakly electric mormyrid) that cruises the lower parts of the tank and navigates the world with its electric sense. It stays small (around 9 cm) and has a clean silvery look with three dark marks that make it pretty easy to pick out among Petrocephalus.
Aroa twig catfish
Farlowella martini
Farlowella martini is one of those unreal-looking stick catfish that just vanishes the moment it parks itself on a branch. It is a super calm, slow-moving grazer that does best in a mature tank with lots of biofilm, gentle flow, and clean, oxygen-rich water - they are not great at competing at feeding time, so you kind of have to look out for them.
Arraya's bluntnose knifefish
Brachyhypopomus arrayae
This is a weakly-electric South American knifefish that cruises around plants and root mats and does most of its business after lights-out. It is a pretty subtle-looking fish (more earthy browns than flashy colors), but the cool part is the whole electric-sense lifestyle and that smooth, hovering knifefish swim.
Arrowhead puffer
Pao suvattii
Pao suvattii is that sneaky Mekong puffer that likes to sit low and ambush food, and it has that super recognizable arrow/V pattern on its back. Gorgeous fish with tons of personality, but it is absolutely not a community guy - plan on a solo, species-only setup if you want everybody to stay in one piece.
Atlantic Mudskipper
Periophthalmus barbarus
This is that wild little amphibious goby that straight-up climbs around on land like it forgot it was a fish. They've got big googly eyes, tons of personality, and they'll perch, hop, and patrol their territory-honestly more like a tiny crabby lizard than a "regular" aquarium fish.
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.
Austellus barb
Dawkinsia austellus
Dawkinsia austellus is a freshwater cyprinid endemic to southern India (Western Ghats region). It is an active, shoaling barb best maintained in a group in a spacious, well-filtered aquarium with good oxygenation and regular maintenance.
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.
Avacanoeiro whiptail catfish
Lamontichthys avacanoeiro
This is one of those rarer Lamontichthys whiptails from Brazil that looks like it was built for fast water - long, armored, and made to hug the bottom in current. In the wild its from the upper Rio Tocantins basin, and in a tank it will really appreciate super clean, oxygen-rich water and lots of smooth surfaces to graze.