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Anchoveta
Engraulis ringens
A small Pacific anchovy of the Humboldt Current, supporting the largest single-species fishery on Earth.
This is the full fish index — 70 detailed fish, each with its own profile. Click any name to open the full entry.
For fish, every profile covers taxonomy, habitat type, diet, length, and conservation status.
All Fish
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Anchovy
Engraulis encrasicolus
A small, slim, intensely flavored saltwater fish at the foundation of countless Mediterranean and Pacific dishes.
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Angelfish
Pterophyllum scalare
A graceful, vertically banded freshwater cichlid of the Amazon, a staple of community aquariums worldwide.
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Arctic Grayling
Thymallus arcticus
A sail-finned salmonid of crystal-clear northern streams, beloved by fly anglers for its iridescent dorsal fin.
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Asian Arowana
Scleropages formosus
A long, ribbon-bodied tropical river fish revered as a "dragon fish" in Asian luxury aquaria.
6
Atlantic Cod
Gadus morhua
A demersal saltwater fish of the North Atlantic, central to European fisheries and once thought inexhaustible.
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Atlantic Mackerel
Scomber scombrus
A fast, schooling pelagic fish with iridescent green-and-black wavy stripes, a staple of small-fish fisheries.
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Atlantic Salmon
Salmo salar
A famous anadromous game fish of the North Atlantic, native to rivers from New England across to Russia.
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Barbel
Barbus barbus
A whiskered, powerful bottom-feeding cyprinid of European rivers, fighting hard against the current.
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Beluga Sturgeon
Huso huso
A colossal, ancient sturgeon of the Caspian and Black Seas, source of the world's most valuable caviar.
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Blue Marlin
Makaira nigricans
A spear-nosed apex predator of the open Atlantic, one of the most coveted big-game fish in the world.
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Bluefin Tuna
Thunnus thynnus
A warm-blooded ocean giant capable of transoceanic migrations, the most prized fish at Tokyo's tuna auctions.
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Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus
A common, palm-sized sunfish of North American ponds and lakes, instantly recognized by its dark gill flap.
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Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
A jewel-toned char native to eastern North American mountain streams, intolerant of warmth or pollution.
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Brown Trout
Salmo trutta
A widely transplanted European salmonid that has become the wild trout of cold streams across six continents.
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Cardinal Tetra
Paracheirodon axelrodi
A brilliant Amazon tetra distinguished from the neon by a full-length crimson stripe, harvested largely from wild stocks.
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Channel Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus
A widespread, whiskered scavenger of North American rivers and lakes, the most-farmed freshwater fish in the United States.
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Chinook Salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
The largest Pacific salmon, the "king," whose great spawning runs once fed entire Northwest economies.
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Chub
Squalius cephalus
A bold, wide-mouthed cyprinid of European rivers, willing to eat almost anything and easy to spot under tree cover.
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Chum Salmon
Oncorhynchus keta
A widely distributed Pacific salmon with striking vertical bars at spawning, central to indigenous fisheries from Alaska to Japan.
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Clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
A small, orange-and-white reef fish famously immune to anemone stings and a household name since "Finding Nemo."
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Coho Salmon
Oncorhynchus kisutch
An acrobatic, silver-flanked Pacific salmon prized by sport anglers for its hard fights and surface strikes.
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Common Carp
Cyprinus carpio
A hardy, widely introduced Eurasian cyprinid, both prized food fish and notorious global invader.
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Crappie
Pomoxis annularis
A schooling, paper-mouthed panfish of brushy lake structures, prized for its delicate white flesh.
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Discus
Symphysodon aequifasciatus
A disc-shaped, slow-moving Amazon cichlid bred into a kaleidoscope of color strains for the aquarium trade.
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European Eel
Anguilla anguilla
A slim, catadromous fish that spawns in the Sargasso Sea and lives most of its long life in European fresh waters.
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Flounder
Platichthys flesus
A broad term for many flatfish species, found buried in soft bottoms from estuaries to the deep shelf.
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Goldfish
Carassius auratus
The world's most-kept ornamental fish, domesticated from a small East Asian carp over a thousand years ago.
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Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
The largest predatory fish in the sea, an apex coastal hunter feared and admired in equal measure.
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Grouper
Epinephelus spp.
A heavy-bodied, big-mouthed reef ambush predator, encompassing dozens of species across tropical seas.
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Guppy
Poecilia reticulata
A tiny, colorful livebearer from the Caribbean, one of the most successful aquarium and biology lab fish in the world.
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Haddock
Melanogrammus aeglefinus
A North Atlantic gadoid with a black thumbprint mark, the classic fish in British fish and chips.
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Hake
Merluccius merluccius
A long, slim cod-relative of deep continental shelves, popular in Mediterranean and South African cuisines.
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Halibut
Hippoglossus hippoglossus
A giant flatfish of cold northern seas, the largest right-eyed flatfish on Earth and a prized food fish.
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Herring
Clupea harengus
A schooling silvery clupeid of the North Atlantic, hugely important to fisheries and to the marine food web.
36
Koi
Cyprinus rubrofuscus
The ornamental color morph of the common carp, bred in Japan for centuries into a rainbow of patterns.
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Lake Trout
Salvelinus namaycush
A large, slow-growing char of deep cold northern lakes, prized for its size, longevity, and oily flesh.
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Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
North America's most popular freshwater game fish, a stout predator of warm lakes, ponds, and slow rivers.
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Lionfish
Pterois volitans
A venomous, ornately finned reef fish, beautiful in its native Pacific and devastating as an Atlantic invader.
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Mahi-Mahi
Coryphaena hippurus
A brilliantly colored, fast-growing pelagic predator of tropical seas, prized by sport anglers and chefs alike.
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Manta Ray
Mobula birostris
A graceful, plankton-feeding ray with the largest wingspan of any fish, a star of tropical reef tourism.
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Muskellunge
Esox masquinongy
The largest member of the pike family, a rare and elusive freshwater predator nicknamed "the fish of ten thousand casts."
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Neon Tetra
Paracheirodon innesi
A tiny iridescent tetra of Amazon blackwaters, the foundation species of the global aquarium trade.
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Northern Pike
Esox lucius
A long, toothy ambush predator of cool northern lakes and rivers across Europe, Asia, and North America.
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Parrotfish
Scarus spp.
A beak-toothed reef herbivore that grazes algae from corals, producing much of the white sand of tropical beaches.
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Pink Salmon
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
The smallest and most abundant Pacific salmon, with a strict two-year life cycle and a humped spawning male.
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Plaice
Pleuronectes platessa
A right-eyed European flatfish with bright orange spots, central to North Sea trawl fisheries.
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Pollock
Pollachius pollachius
A North Atlantic gadoid harvested at huge scale, the white-fleshed backbone of fish fingers and surimi.
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Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
A Pacific salmonid with a vivid pink stripe, the workhorse of trout hatcheries worldwide.
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Red Snapper
Lutjanus campechanus
A crimson reef fish of the Gulf of Mexico and Western Atlantic, central to American sport and seafood fisheries.
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Roach
Rutilus rutilus
A silvery, red-finned cyprinid that is one of Europe's most abundant freshwater fish.
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Sailfish
Istiophorus platypterus
A high-speed billfish with a towering dorsal sail, often called the fastest fish in the sea.
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Sardine
Sardina pilchardus
A small, silvery, oil-rich schooling fish that has fed coastal populations from antiquity to the modern tin.
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Sea Bass
Dicentrarchus labrax
A silver-flanked predator of European coasts, prized in Mediterranean cuisine and farmed across the region.
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Sea Bream
Sparus aurata
A silver-gold Mediterranean reef fish, second only to sea bass in European marine aquaculture.
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Skipjack Tuna
Katsuwonus pelamis
A small, abundant pelagic tuna with horizontal belly stripes, the species behind most canned light tuna.
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Smallmouth Bass
Micropterus dolomieu
A hard-fighting game fish of clear, rocky rivers and northern lakes, prized for its strength relative to size.
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Sockeye Salmon
Oncorhynchus nerka
A deep-red-fleshed Pacific salmon famous for the spectacular spawning runs that turn river systems crimson.
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Sole
Solea solea
A small, slipper-shaped European flatfish prized for delicate flesh and dishes from Dover sole to meuniere.
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Sterlet
Acipenser ruthenus
A small Eurasian river sturgeon, once the source of Russia's "golden sterlet" caviar served to tsars.
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Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis
A powerful anadromous game fish of the Atlantic coast, central to East Coast sport fishing.
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Swordfish
Xiphias gladius
A solitary, sword-billed pelagic giant of the open ocean, capable of remarkable dives and turns of speed.
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Tilapia
Oreochromis niloticus
A fast-growing African cichlid that has become one of the most farmed food fish on Earth.
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Turbot
Scophthalmus maximus
A large, diamond-shaped left-eyed flatfish of European seas, considered one of Europe's finest food fish.
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Walleye
Sander vitreus
A golden, glass-eyed perch of northern lakes and rivers, prized for its mild white flesh.
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Whale Shark
Rhincodon typus
The largest fish in the sea, a gentle filter-feeding shark that roams the world's tropical oceans.
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Wrasse
Labridae spp.
A diverse family of reef fish noted for vivid colors, protogynous sex change, and the role of cleaner species.
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Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
A handsomely banded panfish of North American lakes and rivers, popular with beginners and pan-fryers alike.
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Yellowfin Tuna
Thunnus albacares
A tropical pelagic tuna with elongated golden finlets, the workhorse of the global sushi and canned-tuna trade.
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Zander
Sander lucioperca
A European pike-perch with glassy eyes and canine teeth, prized as a sport fish and food fish.
About this fish index
That's our current full list of fish. We add new entries every week — if there's a fish you'd like us to cover, let us know and we'll write it up.
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