Fish That Start With S - Page 2 of 4
Browse all aquarium fish species with common names beginning with "S". Each profile includes care requirements, water parameters, tank size recommendations, and compatibility information for freshwater, marine, and brackish species.
Sharpnose wrasse
Wetmorella nigropinnata
This is one of those tiny, sneaky reef wrasses that lives in the rockwork - you'll see it poking its little sharp snout into cracks hunting micro-prey. Super peaceful and shy, but once it settles in, its yellow bars and twitchy 'possum wrasse' vibes are seriously addictive to watch.
Shiner anchovy
Encrasicholina intermedia
Encrasicholina intermedia is a tiny, open-water anchovy from the western Indian Ocean that spends its life cruising the coastal shallows in big, nervous schools. In the wild it is basically bite-sized forage fish, constantly picking off plankton and flashing around near the surface - super cool behavior, but it is not really a normal home-aquarium species.
Short-bodied white-armored fish
Onychostoma breve
Onychostoma breve is a small river carp from the Yangtze River system in China, topping out around 14.6 cm standard length. Its whole vibe is a streamlined, current-loving minnow that wants lots of oxygen and moving water, so it is way happier in a river-style setup than a typical calm community tank.
Short-sword platyfish
Xiphophorus continens
Xiphophorus continens is a tiny little wild-type livebearer from the Rio Panuco drainage in Mexico, and the males have just a short "stub" sword instead of the big flowing one you see on common swordtails. They really shine in a planted, oxygen-rich tank with some current, where you can watch the males do their low-key "sneaker" style mating behavior and the females quietly cruise the plants.
Short-tail lanternfish
Gymnoscopelus opisthopterus
This is a coldwater deep-sea lanternfish from the Southern Ocean that spends its life way down in the dark and uses photophores (light organs) like a little living constellation. Its habitat is near-freezing and very deep, so it is really a research-specimen kind of fish rather than something that can be kept in a normal aquarium.
Shortband herring
Jenkinsia stolifera
Jenkinsia stolifera is a tiny, super-flashy little round herring from Florida and the Caribbean that spends its life in tight, nervous schools near the surface. In the wild it is basically living fish confetti - tons of silver, constant motion, always picking at zooplankton - and that "always on the move" vibe is what makes it so cool. It is not really an aquarium species though; most setups cannot provide the huge swimming room, flow, and constant live plankton-style feeding it does best with.
Silver Tiger Perch
Datnioides polota
Datnioides polota is that big, bold tiger-striped fish that just owns the whole tank-thick-bodied, shiny silver, and those dark bands look like someone painted them on. The fun part is watching it stalk around like a little underwater predator, especially at feeding time, but it's also one of those fish that'll make you plan the whole setup around it.
Silver Tip Tetra
Hasemania nana
These little guys are like tiny sparks in the tank-silvery bodies with those warm orange "copper" fins that really pop when they're happy and colored up. Keep them in a proper group and you'll see them cruise around together, doing that classic tetra "we're all going this way now" thing, and the males will sometimes flash at each other without it turning into real drama.
Silver cusk
Glyptophidium argenteum
Glyptophidium argenteum is a deepwater/bathydemersal cusk-eel (Ophidiidae) from the Indo-West Pacific (e.g., Bay of Bengal to the Philippines) recorded hundreds of meters deep. It is primarily known from scientific/monitoring collections and deepwater fisheries bycatch rather than the aquarium trade.
Silver loach
Yasuhikotakia lecontei
Yasuhikotakia lecontei is a chunky, fast-water botia from the Mekong area that loves to wedge itself into rock gaps by day and come out to cruise and forage at dusk. It is a real little bulldozer with snails and other bottom critters, and it gets way more confident (and entertaining) when you keep it in a proper group.
Silver moony (Mono)
Monodactylus argenteus
Silver moonies are those shiny, diamond-shaped "mono" fish you see cruising nonstop in brackish tanks-super active and way more fun to watch when they're in a proper group. They start out in estuaries (often sold too small and too fresh), and the big "gotcha" is they really want you to ramp them up to stronger brackish/near-marine as they grow. Feed them like a hungry, messy omnivore and give them swimming room, and they're absolute show-stealers.
Silver splitfin
Verilus cynodon
Verilus cynodon (silver splitfin) is a deepwater marine "ocean bass" kind of fish from the western Indian Ocean, usually caught way down the slope rather than anywhere near reefs. Its whole deal is being a small, silvery, toothy little predator that lives in the dark zone (roughly 100-570 m), so its care is basically not practical for normal home aquariums.
Silverbelly cardinalfish
Jaydia photogaster
Jaydia photogaster is a small, nocturnal cardinalfish from the western Pacific that hangs around deeper lagoon patch reefs and tends to be seen solo or in little loose groups. The really neat bit is the silvery belly light-organ system (hence the name) and the subtle dusky bars down the sides - it is one of those understated fish that looks way cooler the longer you stare at it.
Singapore glassy perchlet
Ambassis kopsii
Ambassis kopsii is one of those cool little see-through mangrove/estuary fish that likes to hang out in a tight group, flashing silver in the light. It naturally lives where fresh and saltwater mix, so it does best when you treat it like a calm, slightly brackish schooling fish and give it lots of friends.
Six-bar lamprologus
Neolamprologus sexfasciatus
This is a punchy Lake Tanganyika rock-cave cichlid with bold vertical bars (and some really nice local color forms like the gold variant). Once a pair settles in, they get serious about their little chunk of rockwork, so the fun is watching territory defense and cave-spawning behavior up close.
Sixline Wrasse
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
The Sixline Wrasse is that nonstop little reef torpedo that weaves through rockwork all day hunting tiny critters. It's awesome for picking at pests like small worms/flatworms, but once it settles in it can get pretty territorial-especially in smaller tanks or with similar-shaped fish.
Skipper halfbeak
Hyporhamphus snyderi
This is a sleek little open-water halfbeak from the Tropical Eastern Pacific, with that classic underbite beak and a silvery body with dark lines along the back. Its whole vibe is cruising the surface in a school, so if you ever tried keeping one you would be planning around swimming room and a seriously escape-proof lid.
Skunk loach
Yasuhikotakia morleti
This is the little loach with the bold black "skunk stripe" down its back, and it acts just as sassy as it looks. Give it a group and a pile of caves and it turns into a busy, clicking, bottom-patrolling gremlin that will happily hunt snails. It stays fairly small, but it can get nippy if you try to keep just one or you pair it with slow, long-finned fish.
Slender abyssal cusk-eel
Sciadonus pedicellaris
Sciadonus pedicellaris is a rare deep-sea livebearing brotula (family Bythitidae) with a very slender body, small deep-set eyes, and loose translucent skin; it occurs at bathyal to abyssal depths and is not suited to typical aquarium care. The name refers to the stalk-like (“pedicellate”) pectoral-fin base.
Slender mudskipper
Zappa confluentus
This is a tiny New Guinea mudskipper that lives around tidal mudflats by murky, brackish river water, and it can do the classic mudskipper trick of air-breathing when it is out of the water. In aquarium terms, think of it less like a regular "fish" and more like a little amphibious goby that wants a land area, lots of damp mud/sand to perch on, and calm brackish conditions.
Slime skate
Dipturus pullopunctatus
This is a South African deep-water skate that lives way out on the shelf/upper slope, not something that belongs anywhere near a home aquarium. It gets big (around 1.3 m max reported) and is a bottom-dwelling predator, so it needs cold, high-oxygen marine conditions and huge space to swim and rest properly.
Small-mouth croaker
Johnius hypostoma
Johnius hypostoma is a little Indo-Pacific croaker (drumfish) that lives over the bottom in shallow coastal saltwater. Its claim to fame is basically being a compact, small-mouthed, nearshore sciaenid - more of a local food/fishery species than something you will normally see in the aquarium trade.
Smalleye conger
Gnathophis microps
Gnathophis microps is a deepwater marine conger eel from off Western Australia, and its little eyes make a lot of sense once you realize it lives way down around 200-320 m. Cool fish on paper, but its deep, cold-ish habitat means it is basically not a realistic home-aquarium species (think public-aquarium level life support).
Smith's witch eel
Facciolella smithi
This is a deep-water witch eel (duckbill eel) that was only described recently, from off the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea. It's a long, ribbon-bodied, soft-sediment bottom-dweller with that weird duckbill snout and small deep-sea eyes - super cool, but not something you can realistically keep in a normal home aquarium.