News
RiversEl Niño seen disrupting fish migration patternsSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaRiversEl Niño seen disrupting fish migration patternsSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-Nicola
EveryFish

Least concern

Widespread and not thought to be at risk. 286 fish on EveryFish so far.

Least Concern is the IUCN Red List category for species that have been assessed and are not close to qualifying as threatened. They are usually widespread and abundant. Many important food fish are in this category, including hilsa, rohu, skipjack tuna and Atlantic herring. Least Concern describes a species as a whole, worldwide; it does not mean that every local stock is healthy or well managed.

Common, not always safe

A fish can be Least Concern globally while particular populations are in trouble. Hilsa is widespread across the Bay of Bengal and its rivers, but its runs up the Ganges collapsed after the Farakka Barrage. Rohu and catla are abundant because they are farmed in huge numbers, while wild river stocks have declined. Herring stocks have crashed and recovered in different seas over the past century. Fisheries are managed stock by stock, so local assessments matter as much as the global category.

Back from the brink

Some fish have moved into Least Concern after recovering. The Atlantic bluefin tuna was listed as Endangered in 2011 after decades of overfishing; strict quotas set by the Atlantic tuna commission, ICCAT, and better enforcement let stocks recover, and in 2021 it was reassessed as Least Concern. Yellowfin tuna was moved from Near Threatened to Least Concern in the same update, though scientists warn that yellowfin in the Indian Ocean is still overfished.

Famous least concern fish

IlishLeast Concern globally, though local runs have fallenRohuAbundant thanks to farmingCatlaWidespread in farms and riversIndian mackerelA common schooling fish of the Indo-PacificSkipjack tunaThe most caught tunaAtlantic bluefin tunaMoved from Endangered to Least Concern in 2021Yellowfin tunaMoved to Least Concern in 2021Atlantic herringWidespread in the North Atlantic

Further reading

GroupSharkRayCarpCatfishSalmonidHerringCodTunaPerch-likeCichlidReef fishEelFlatfishLivebearerAncientOther
WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
UseFood fishFarmedAquarium fishSport fishingCulture and faithVenomous or dangerousInvasiveScience and research
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy size
WorldRegal blue tang Bright blue reef fish with a yellow tail and black markings.Reef fish · Coral reefs 🇧🇷 Brazil and 1 moreFrench angelfish A slow-growing Caribbean reef fish known for its sponge diet.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1799 🇺🇸 United StatesGaribaldi Bright orange damselfish and official marine state fish of California.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1860 WorldYellow boxfish A bright yellow, cube-shaped reef fish with toxic mucus.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1758 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreYellow tang Bright yellow Pacific reef fish kept in marine aquariums.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1828 🇺🇸 United StatesReef triggerfish Hawaii’s official state fish with a pig-like snoutReef fish · Coral reefs WorldMoorish idol A striking black, white and yellow reef fish found across the Indo-Pacific.Reef fish · Coral reefs · 1758 WorldButterflyfish A global family of colourful tropical reef fish known for their bright patterns and coral diets.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1815 WorldDamselfish Small marine fish known for aggressive territorial behaviour and reef farming.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves WorldWhitetail dascyllus A small Indo-Pacific reef fish with bold black and white stripes.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves WorldTrumpetfish Marine fish with a long tubular snout found in tropical reefs worldwide.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1766 🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreRed lionfish Venomous coral reef fish native to the Indo-Pacific and invasive in the Atlantic.Reef fish · Coral reefs · 1758 WorldEmperor angelfish A striking reef fish with bold blue and yellow stripes.Reef fish · Coral reefs · 1787 WorldQueen angelfish A colourful reef fish with a blue crown spot.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1758

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: the fish of the day, new pages on EveryFish, and the conferences and anniversaries of the week ahead.