All fish
1,147 fish so far, best known first. 16 more are on the list to be written.
GroupSharkRayCarpCatfishSalmonidHerringCodTunaPerch-likeCichlidReef fishEelFlatfishLivebearerAncientOther
WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreRazorback sucker
Endangered river fish with a distinctive back ridgeOther · Rivers and lakes
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreSouthern platyfish
Small live-bearing freshwater fish from Central AmericaLivebearer · Rivers and lakes
🇲🇽 MexicoVariable platyfish
Small livebearing fish from Mexico popular in home aquariumsLivebearer · Rivers and lakes
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreGreen swordtail
A hardy live-bearing fish popular in home aquariums.Livebearer · Rivers and lakes · 1848
🇺🇸 United StatesDevils Hole pupfish
A tiny fish found only in one cavern in Nevada.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1930
🇧🇮 Burundi and 3 moreBurton's mouthbrooder
East African cichlid with reversible social roles and acoustic courtship.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes
Sub-Saharan AfricaZebra mbuna
Small rock-dwelling cichlid from Lake MalawiCichlid · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 BrazilPterophyllum
A genus of laterally compressed freshwater cichlids known as angelfish.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1824
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreGreen terror
A large, aggressive South American cichlid kept in aquariums.Cichlid · Rivers and lakes
🇻🇪 Venezuela and 1 moreRam cichlid
Small colourful freshwater fish from South AmericaCichlid · Rivers and lakes · 1948
🇺🇸 United StatesBrown bullhead
A hardy North American catfish known for surviving poor water conditions.Catfish · Rivers and lakes · 1819
🇺🇸 United StatesWidemouth blindcat
A pale, eyeless catfish from Texas aquifersCatfish · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreMekong giant catfish
A massive freshwater fish native to the Mekong basin, now critically endangered.Catfish · Rivers and lakes
🇧🇷 Brazil and 4 moreCandiru
A tiny parasitic catfish from the Amazon that feeds on blood.Catfish · Rivers and lakes
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreElectric catfish
African catfish that generates strong electric shocksCatfish · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 ChinaPrzewalskii's naked carp
Endemic cyprinid of China's Qinghai Lake basinCarp · Rivers and lakes
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreStone loach
A small European freshwater fish that hides under gravel and hunts at night.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreEuropean bitterling
Small freshwater fish that breeds inside musselsOther · Rivers and lakes · 1782
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreFathead minnow
Small North American freshwater fish used as bait and in toxicity studies.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreColorado pikeminnow
A large native river fish of the Colorado Basin, once abundant but now critically endangered.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesBonytail chub
Endangered freshwater fish from the Colorado River Basin known for its thin tail.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesHumpback chub
Endangered fish of the Colorado River with a distinctive dorsal hump.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreKokanee salmon
A landlocked freshwater form of the sockeye salmon found in North America and Japan.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes
🇹🇿 TanzaniaRedtail notho
A small annual killifish from ZanzibarLivebearer · Rivers and lakes
🇮🇹 ItalyCarpione
Endangered salmonid fish native to Lake Garda in Italy.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBrook trout
A colorful freshwater char native to eastern North America, known for its spotted pattern and status as a popular game fSalmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1814
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreSmallmouth yellowfish
A hardy sport fish native to South Africa's Orange-Vaal river system.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇿🇦 South AfricaClanwilliam yellowfish
A golden-hued river fish from South Africa's Cederberg.Carp · Rivers and lakes
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreAdriatic sturgeon
A critically endangered sturgeon native to the Adriatic basin.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreSmalltooth sawfish
Critically endangered Atlantic sawfish with a toothed rostrum.Ray · Coasts and shelves
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreVacha catfish
A schilbid catfish native to South Asia.Catfish · Rivers and lakes
WorldNorthern whiting
A widespread marine fish found in the Indo-Pacific, known for its silvery body and ability to bury itself in sand.Other · Coasts and shelves · 1775
🇺🇸 United StatesJune sucker
Endangered Utah lake fish named for its spawning monthOther · Rivers and lakes
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreZig-zag eel
A large freshwater spiny eel native to South and Southeast Asia, known for its zigzag pattern and predatory habits.Eel · Rivers and lakes · 1777
🇻🇪 Venezuela and 4 moreGuppy
Small tropical livebearer known for bright male colours and rapid reproduction.Livebearer · Rivers and lakes · 1859
🇸🇪 SwedenEuropean eel
A catadromous fish with a mysterious ocean spawning cycle and critically endangered status.Eel · Rivers and lakes
🇵🇰 PakistanElongate glassy perchlet
Small translucent fish from South Asian watersOther · Rivers and lakes
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese sturgeon
Critically endangered giant migratory fish of the YangtzeAncient · Rivers and lakes
🇫🇷 France and 3 moreEuropean whitefish
A widespread freshwater salmonid with a tapered body and silvery flanks.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes
🇻🇪 Venezuela and 3 moreBlack ghost knifefish
Nocturnal electric fish from South American riversOther · Rivers and lakes · 1766
WorldStickleback
A family of small ray-finned fishes with dorsal spines found across the Northern Hemisphere.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 1 morePaedocypris progenetica
A translucent cyprinid from Southeast Asian peat swamps, holding the record for smallest adult vertebrate until 2012.Carp · Rivers and lakes · 2006
🇺🇸 United StatesPahrump poolfish
Rare Nevada fish surviving only in transplanted populationsLivebearer · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesCui-ui
Endangered sucker fish native to Pyramid Lake in NevadaOther · Rivers and lakes
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 1 moreSprat
Small forage fish of the genus Sprattus and related genera in the herring family.Herring · Coasts and shelves
WorldBeluga sturgeon
A massive anadromous fish from the Caspian and Black Sea basins, prized for its caviar.Other · Rivers and lakes
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreRussian sturgeon
Large anadromous sturgeon of the Black and Caspian Seas.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAlligator gar
A large, primitive freshwater fish native to North America known for its armored scales and air-breathing ability.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1803
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Labeobarbus: Brian.gratwicke, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Xiphophorus: Marrabbio2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cichlid: mendel, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Razorback sucker: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, source
- Southern platyfish: Photograph by Jere Kyyrö. Uploaded by Rasvis ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Green swordtail: Bastet78, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Devils Hole pupfish: Olin Feuerbacher / USFWS, Public domain, source
- Burton's mouthbrooder: (Image: Russell D. Fernald and Sabrina S. Burmeister), CC BY 2.5, source
- Zebra mbuna: Gareth J. Fraser, C. Darrin Hulsey, Ryan F. Bloomquist, Kristine Uyesu, CC BY 2.5, source
- Green terror: MidgleyDJ (Dr. David Midgley) at en.wikipedia., CC BY 2.5, source
- Ram cichlid: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brown bullhead: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Widemouth blindcat: Apokryltaros, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mekong giant catfish: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Candiru: Ivan Sazima & Jansen Zuanon, CC BY 4.0, source
- Electric catfish: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Przewalskii's naked carp: EricDiao, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Stone loach: Michal Maňas, CC BY 3.0, source
- European bitterling: George Chernilevsky, Public domain, source
- Fathead minnow: Rankin1958, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Colorado pikeminnow: J. E. Johnson/U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, source
- Bonytail chub: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, source
- Humpback chub: Williams, James, Public domain, source
- Kokanee salmon: self, CC0, source
- Redtail notho: Jokuyken15, CC BY 4.0, source
- Carpione: Domenico Collini, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brook trout: Engbretson, Eric, Public domain, source
- Smallmouth yellowfish: Craig Thom, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Adriatic sturgeon: Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Smalltooth sawfish: D Ross Robertson, Public domain, source
- Vacha catfish: Sir Francis Day, Public domain, source
- Northern whiting: Kare, CC BY 3.0, source
- June sucker: David Starr Jordan, Public domain, source
- Zig-zag eel: Printer Swaine., Public domain, source
- Guppy: Wibowo Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- European eel: mr_capgras, CC BY 4.0, source
- Elongate glassy perchlet: Captain R C Beavan, Public domain, source
- Chinese sturgeon: Shizhao, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- European whitefish: see Iduns kokbok, Public domain, source
- Black ghost knifefish: Photo by and (c)2005 Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Stickleback: Ghegeman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cui-ui: John Otterbein Snyder, Public domain, source
- Sprat: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Beluga sturgeon: Daniel Döhne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Russian sturgeon: Daniel Döhne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Alligator gar: Cymothoa exigua, CC BY-SA 3.0, source