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
🇵🇭 Philippines and 4 moreMilkfish
The sole living species of the family Chanidae, found across the Indo-Pacific.Other · Coasts and shelves
WorldViperfish
Deep-sea fish with fang-like teeth and bioluminescent lures in the genus Chauliodus.Other · Open ocean · 1801
🇧🇼 Botswana and 1 moreAfrican tigerfish
Predatory freshwater fish known for sharp teeth and leaping hunting behaviour.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1861
🇺🇬 Uganda and 2 moreSilver cyprinid
A small pelagic fish from Lake Victoria that supports regional food security.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesGuadalupe bass
A rare Texas endemic black bass prized by anglers for its fighting spirit.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
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMexican tetra
A freshwater characin with surface and blind cave forms, studied for evolutionary biology.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 RussiaComephorus
Two species of pelagic sculpins endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1800
🇧🇷 BrazilBanded leporinus
A striped freshwater fish from the Amazon kept in home tanks and occasionally caught by anglers.Other · Rivers and lakes
WorldSnakehead
Elongated freshwater predators with air-breathing organs found in Asia and Africa.Other · Rivers and lakes
Southeast AsiaGiant snakehead
A large freshwater predator from Southeast Asia known for air breathing and invasive potential.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreBurbot
A coldwater freshwater fish with a chin whisker, native to the Northern Hemisphere.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇺🇸 United StatesWhite bass
A silver-striped freshwater fish native to North American rivers and lakes.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
🇰🇭 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.
- Milkfish: Wiki Farazi, CC0, source
- Viperfish: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Voyage to the Ridge 2022, Public domain, source
- African tigerfish: Totti, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Silver cyprinid: Boulenger, George Albert; Loat, L., Public domain, source
- Guadalupe bass: Nick Loveland, CC0, source
- Tambaqui: w_endo, CC0, source
- Mexican tetra: User:Haplochromis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Comephorus: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Banded leporinus: Ltshears, Public domain, source
- Snakehead: Sir Francis Day, Public domain, source
- Giant snakehead: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Burbot: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- White bass: Nick Loveland, CC0, source
- Oarfish: Sandstein, CC BY 3.0, source
- Humpback anglerfish: Emőke Dénes, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Red-bellied Pacu: Omnitarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gyrinocheilus aymonieri: Pseudogastromyzon, Public domain, source