Fish That Start With D
Browse all aquarium fish species with common names beginning with "D". Each profile includes care requirements, water parameters, tank size recommendations, and compatibility information for freshwater, marine, and brackish species.
The letter 'D' features a diverse range of aquarium species, from popular community fish to intriguing predators. You'll find striking species like the vibrant Celestial Pearl Danio (Danio margaritatus) and the hardy Zebra Danio (Danio rerio), along with unique pufferfish like the Green Spotted Puffer (Dichotomyctere nigroviridis). This variety helps aquarists find the right choices for their tanks.
Dark-barred goatfish
Upeneus luzonius
This is a small demersal goatfish from the western Pacific associated with muddy coastal substrates. It swims in aggregations (sometimes mixed with similar species) and uses chin barbels to forage. It is silvery with a reddish mid-lateral line that breaks into spots and a red bar below the eye.
Darkfin sculpin
Malacocottus zonurus
This is a deep-water North Pacific sculpin that spends its life down on the bottom, basically a cold, dark, high-pressure fish. It can get surprisingly big for something most people never see alive, and its "care" is really more public-aquarium/chiller-system territory than home tanks.
Darwin's knifefish
Gymnotus darwini
Gymnotus darwini is a smaller banded knifefish from coastal river drainages in Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Like other Gymnotus, it navigates and hunts using a weak electric field and tends to be most active after lights-out, cruising along the bottom and through cover. It is a cool oddball fish, but its exact aquarium needs are not well documented because it is a recently described species and not common in the trade.
Datangzi Marsh Yunnan loach
Yunnanilus macrogaster
This is a little Chinese stone loach from a weedy marsh system in Yunnan, and it tops out around 7 cm (under 3 inches). Its name literally points at the chunky, swollen-belly look (macrogaster = large stomach), and it is an insect-and-worm picker that hangs along the bottom.
Day's catfish
Nedystoma dayi
Nedystoma dayi is a small ariid catfish from turbid freshwater rivers in central-southern New Guinea. Its whole vibe is lurking along the bottom in murky water and picking off aquatic insect larvae, so its look and lifestyle are very much a "river-bottom" fish rather than a showy planted-tank centerpiece.
Declivitas mbuna
Iodotropheus declivitas
Iodotropheus declivitas is a little Lake Malawi mbuna that hangs around rocky reefs and spends a lot of its day picking at algae and tiny bits of food off the rocks. It stays pretty small for an mbuna, but it still does that classic cichlid thing of claiming a cave and showing off once it settles in. The big catch is its ID and availability - its often discussed alongside (and sometimes confused with) Iodotropheus sprengerae.
Decorated dragonfish
Eustomias decoratus
Eustomias decoratus is a deep-sea dragonfish (family Stomiidae) from the western central Atlantic around Bermuda. Like other Eustomias, it is a pelagic predator built for the dark - long body, big mouth, and a chin barbel used in hunting and signaling. This is absolutely not an aquarium species in any normal sense, since its real habitat is open ocean at depth and it will not tolerate typical captive conditions.
Deepwater airbreathing catfish
Bathyclarias atribranchus
This is one of Lake Malawi's weird, deep-living clariid catfish, hanging out on the bottom below about 70 m in the wild. What makes it extra cool is the dark, almost black gill filaments and suprabranchial (air-breathing) organ that the species is named for. Not really an aquarium fish in any normal sense - it gets big and comes from deep water.
Denison barb
Sahyadria denisonii
This is that sleek "torpedo" barb with the red racing stripe and black line-built for constant cruising in the middle of the tank. They're happiest in a proper group with lots of open swim room and really clean, oxygen-rich water with some flow. Get a school going and they look like a little pack of mini river missiles.
Densely scaled Yunnan loach
Yunnanilus polylepis
Yunnanilus polylepis is a tiny, newly-described stone loach from Yunnan, China that lives over plants in a deep pool, not a raging riffle. Males and females even look different (males show a dark side stripe), and the species name is literally about having lots of scales, which is a fun oddball trait for this group.
Diamond Tetra
Moenkhausia pittieri
Diamond tetras are one of those fish that look kind of plain in the bag, then you get them settled in and they start throwing off this glittery, diamond-like shine when the light hits them-super satisfying to watch. They're active, always cruising around the midwater, and in a nice little school they'll do that tight, synchronized swimming thing that makes the tank feel alive.
Diamond Watchman Goby
Valenciennea puellaris
This is that sand-sifting goby you'll see cruising the bottom, taking huge mouthfuls of sand and spitting it out like a little construction crew. It's awesome for keeping a sandy substrate looking clean, but it'll also redecorate-so anything sitting on the sand is gonna get buried or undermined sooner or later. Super cool personality too, especially once it picks a favorite burrow and starts "working" all day.
Dianchi stone loach
Sphaerophysa dianchiensis
This is a tiny Chinese nemacheilid (stone loach) that lived on the bottom in Lake Dianchi, Yunnan. Sadly, its whole story in the hobby is basically that it is a super-local endemic that is listed as Critically Endangered and may even be gone from the wild, so it is not something you should expect to ever see for sale.
Doce River moenkhausia (lambari)
Moenkhausia doceana
Moenkhausia doceana is a Brazilian characin from the Doce and Mucuri river basins - basically a regional "lambari" type tetra. In the wild it hangs in the water column of clear, moving streams and picks off insect larvae and other little buggy bits, so it tends to do best in a roomy tank with good flow and a group of its own kind.
Dotted gizzard shad
Konosirus punctatus
Konosirus punctatus is a coastal, open-water schooling shad from East Asia that runs in and out of bays and brackish estuaries to breed. It gets fairly big for a "shad" and is built for constant cruising, so its care is much closer to a coolwater baitfish setup than a typical home aquarium community fish.
Drach's conger eel
Uroconger drachi
Uroconger drachi is one of those super-obscure conger eels that basically never shows up in the hobby - it is known from just a single collected specimen off the Republic of the Congo. FishBase lists it topping out around 41.5 cm total length, so it is not a giant conger, but its real "thing" is how little we actually know about it.
Dragon fin tetra
Diapoma terofali
This is a little South American characin from the Parana-Uruguay system that stays pretty small but has a neat "glandulocaudine" twist - males have a special caudal gland tied to breeding. In a calm planted setup they act like a typical small tetra-ish fish, cruising midwater and looking best in a group.
Dusky Tongue Sole
Paraplagusia sinerama
A tongue sole (family Cynoglossidae) from soft-bottom habitats in northern Australia (Exmouth Gulf, WA to Moreton Bay, QLD) and also New Guinea. It is a bottom-dwelling flatfish associated with soft substrates; aquarium care details (salinity/pH/tankmates) are not well documented in major references.
Duskybanded sole
Zebrias penescalaris
This is a little right-eyed sole from southern Australia that spends its life glued to the sand, basically disappearing until it shuffles off and you notice the faint ladder-like bands. Super cool camouflage fish, but its whole vibe is soft-bottom, cool-to-mild marine water - not really a typical home-aquarium species.
Dwarf Neon Rainbowfish
Melanotaenia praecox
These little rainbows are like living sparks-electric blue bodies with those punchy red/orange fins, and they look even better the more you keep together. They're constantly cruising the mid-water, flashing at each other and doing that classic rainbowfish "look at me" shimmy, especially when the lights first come on or at feeding time.
Dwarf chain loach
Ambastaia sidthimunki
This is the little "Sid" loach people fall in love with once they see a whole group doing their goofy zoomies and clicking at each other. They stay tiny but act like big loaches - always busy, always social, and way more confident when you keep them in a proper gang. Give them sand, hiding spots, and lots of buddies and they really shine.
Dwarf goatfish
Upeneus parvus
Upeneus parvus is a sand-and-mud bottom goatfish that spends a lot of time prowling the substrate and picking out little critters to eat. In an aquarium it is basically a living metal detector with those chin barbels, and it can absolutely rearrange your sand while it hunts.
Dwarf gourami
Trichogaster lalius
Dwarf gouramis are those little jewel-box labyrinth fish that hang out near the surface, cruising through plants and popping up for air when they feel like it. Give them a calm, planted setup and they'll reward you with tons of personality-males especially will posture and show off, and they're classic bubble-nest builders when they're in the mood.
Dwarf pufferfish (Pea puffer)
Carinotetraodon travancoricus
This is the famous pea puffer-tiny (around 3.5 cm max) but it acts like a full-size puffer, cruising around and hunting little critters with a ton of attitude. If you give it a heavily planted tank with lots of line-of-sight breaks, you'll get to watch really cool "stalking" behavior all day.