Other fish
Seahorses, pufferfish, anglerfish, gobies, flying fish and the rest. 80 fish on EveryFish so far.
Many fish do not fit the familiar groups. Seahorses and pipefish, pufferfish and ocean sunfish, anglerfish, flying fish, oarfish, mudskippers, gobies, archerfish and lizardfish each belong to their own branches of the fish family tree. Among them are some of the strangest shapes and records in the animal world, from the heaviest bony fish to some of the smallest vertebrates known.
Record breakers
The ocean sunfish and its relatives are the heaviest bony fish: a bumphead sunfish found off the Azores in 2021 weighed about 2,700 kg. The giant oarfish is the longest bony fish, reaching around 8 metres. At the other end, Paedocypris progenetica, a tiny carp of Indonesian peat swamps, matures at under 8 mm. Seahorses are unusual in that males carry the eggs in a pouch and give birth.
Odd fish, familiar names
Pufferfish blow themselves up with water and carry a deadly poison, yet are eaten as fugu in Japan. Flying fish glide above the waves on wide pectoral fins. Archerfish of mangroves shoot down insects with jets of water. The Bombay duck, bombil, of India's west coast is a lizardfish, a soft, toothy fish eaten fresh or dried. Anglerfish of the deep sea fish for prey with a glowing lure.
Famous other fish
Still to be written: Ocean sunfish, Leafy seadragon, Hippocampus kuda, Takifugu rubripes, Bombay duck, Banded archerfish.
Further reading
WorldSilver dollar
Round, silver tropical fish related to piranhas, popular in aquariums.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇼 Botswana and 1 moreAfrican tigerfish
Predatory freshwater fish known for sharp teeth and leaping hunting behaviour.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1861
WorldLeopard bush fish
A freshwater labyrinth fish from the Congo River basin kept in home aquariums.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 3 moreTambaqui
A large freshwater fish from South America known for its heavy body and seed-eating habits.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 4 moreWolf fish
A predatory freshwater ray-finned fish found across Central and South America.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMexican tetra
A freshwater characin with surface and blind cave forms, studied for evolutionary biology.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 BrazilBanded leporinus
A striped freshwater fish from the Amazon kept in home tanks and occasionally caught by anglers.Other · Rivers and lakes
WorldFeatherbacks and knifefishes
Freshwater bony-tongued fishes with long anal finsOther · Rivers and lakes
Southeast AsiaGiant snakehead
A large freshwater predator from Southeast Asia known for air breathing and invasive potential.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 4 moreArapaima
Giant air-breathing freshwater fish of the AmazonOther · Rivers and lakes · 1822
WorldAnglerfish
Ray-finned fish using a modified dorsal fin ray as a lure to catch prey.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1829
WorldDanio
A genus of small striped freshwater fish from Asia kept in aquaria.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1822
🇦🇺 Australia and 2 moreRainbowfish
Small colourful freshwater fish from Australia and New GuineaOther · Rivers and lakes · 1894
🇯🇵 JapanJapanese rice fish
Small freshwater fish native to Japan and a key model organism.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 4 moreRed-bellied piranha
A widespread South American freshwater fish known for its omnivorous diet and shoaling behavior.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreRed-bellied Pacu
A large South American freshwater fish related to piranhas, farmed for food and kept in aquariums.Other · Rivers and lakes
WorldHeadstander
South American freshwater fish known for swimming with their heads pointed downwards.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 ChinaButterfly loach
A small, flat freshwater loach from fast Chinese streams.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 4 moreGyrinocheilus aymonieri
A Southeast Asian freshwater fish known for its suction-like mouth and role in the aquarium trade.Other · Rivers and lakes
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Silver dollar: Photo by and (c)2004 Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- African tigerfish: Totti, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Leopard bush fish: Zaire, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tambaqui: w_endo, CC0, source
- Mexican tetra: User:Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wolf fish: J. F. Hennig, Public domain, source
- Banded leporinus: Ltshears, Public domain, source
- Featherbacks and knifefishes: Henry Sullivan Thomas, Public domain, source
- Giant snakehead: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Arapaima: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Anglerfish: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Oarfish: Sandstein, CC BY 3.0, source
- Danio: Soulkeeper, Public domain, source
- Rainbowfish: Eileen Kortright ( Roan Art ), CC BY 2.5, source
- Humpback anglerfish: Emőke Dénes, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Japanese rice fish: NOZO, CC BY 3.0, source
- Red-bellied piranha: Gregory Moine, CC BY 2.0, source
- Red-bellied Pacu: Omnitarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Headstander: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Butterfly loach: Lerdsuwa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gyrinocheilus aymonieri: Pseudogastromyzon, Public domain, source