Fish That Start With H - Page 2 of 2
Browse all aquarium fish species with common names beginning with "H". Each profile includes care requirements, water parameters, tank size recommendations, and compatibility information for freshwater, marine, and brackish species.
Hovering Zebra Loach
Yunnanilus cruciatus
This tiny Vietnamese stone loach is a little weirdo in the best way - it often cruises head-down at about a 45-degree angle and will "hover" in the water column while it hunts for snacks. Keep it in a proper group and a planted, mature tank, and you get constant small-fish activity without the drama.
Howes' prodontocharax
Prodontocharax howesi
This is a tiny Amazon-basin cheirodontine characin associated with unusual jaw/tooth morphology in the Prodontocharax/Amblystilbe group. Recent revisionary work revalidated the genus Amblystilbe and treats Amblystilbe howesi as distinct; older secondary sources may list the fish under Prodontocharax howesi, so identification and naming can be inconsistent in non-specialist contexts.
Htamanthi danio
Danio htamanthinus
This is a truly tiny Myanmar danio from little streams around Htamanthi in the Chindwin River basin. It stays under an inch, so it feels more like keeping a bunch of shimmering micro-fish than a typical zebra-danio-style "speedster". Give it plants, calm tankmates, and a group big enough that it feels secure and you will see much nicer, bolder behavior.
Huangwei gu (黄尾鲴)
Xenocypris davidi
Xenocypris davidi is a Chinese river fish that gets way bigger than most folks expect from a "minnow-looking" cyprinid - it's a sleek, open-water swimmer that can hit real dinner-plate size. In the wild it's a benthopelagic species and even shows up in slightly brackish areas, so it's pretty adaptable, but it's not really an everyday home-aquarium fish because of its adult size and need for swimming room.
Hubei sharpbelly
Xenocypris hupeinensis
Xenocypris hupeinensis is a freshwater sharpbelly (family Xenocyprididae) endemic to China, reported from the middle and upper reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River system, with a maximum recorded length of about 25.6 cm TL. Aquarium husbandry information appears scarce in mainstream hobby references; any care guidance should be treated as extrapolation from similar open-water cypriniform fishes rather than species-specific data.
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.
Humpbacked cardinalfish
Yarica hyalosoma
This is a chunky little cardinalfish that hangs out in mangrove creeks and river mouths, often in small groups in shallow, shady water. The look is super distinctive - pale/translucent body, and that bold black spot at the base of the tail - and like a lot of cardinalfish, the males mouthbrood the eggs.
Hung's silvermouth cardinalfish
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.
Hyaline cardinalfish
Foa hyalina
This is a tiny little reef cardinalfish that looks almost glass-clear with a few reddish-brown stripes, so it kind of vanishes when it hangs in soft corals. In the wild it tends to be solitary and it tucks itself into Sinularia-type soft coral for cover, then comes alive more at night like a lot of cardinals do. Like other apogonids, it is a mouthbrooder, so once you see a male holding, he will go off food for a bit.
Hypostomus scaphyceps (suckermouth armored catfish)
Hypostomus albopunctatus
This one is a wild Brazilian Hypostomus from the Paranapanema River basin - basically a true armored suckermouth catfish, not something you usually see labeled clearly in shops. One big gotcha: the often-quoted max size of 3.5 cm is very likely based on a juvenile record, so I would not plan a tiny tank around it.
Hypsolebias trifasciatus
Hypsolebias trifasciatus
Tiny but flashy, this annual killi lights up with a blue body and bold yellow-and-black striping on the anal fin. It comes from shallow seasonal pools in northeastern Brazil, so it likes soft, warm water and will bury eggs in a peat or mud-like substrate. Males have big attitudes for such small fish, so plan for line-of-sight breaks or keep a single pair.
Hyrtl's catfish
Neosilurus hyrtlii
This is an Aussie eel-tail catfish that looks like a sleek little catfish-meets-eel, especially when it flashes those yellow fins. It spends a lot of time cruising the bottom and hoovering up meaty bits, and it can get way bigger than people expect if you keep it well fed and give it swimming room.