List of marine aquarium fish species

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a list of marine aquarium fish species commonly available in the aquarium trade. It is not a completely comprehensive list; certain rare specimens may sometimes be available commercially yet not be listed here. A brief section on each, with additional links is provided.

Contents 1 Angelfish 2 Anthias 3 Bass 4 Basslets 5 Batfish 6 Blennies 7 Boxfish 8 Butterflyfish 9 Cardinalfish 10 Chromis 11 Clownfish 12 Damsels 13 Dottybacks 14 Dragonets 15 Eels 16 Filefish 17 Foxface 18 Gobies 19 Groupers 20 Hawkfish 21 Hogfish 22 Jawfish 23 Lionfish 24 Pipefish 25 Pufferfish 26 Pseudochromis 27 Rabbitfish 28 Rays 29 Seahorse 30 Squirrelfish 31 Tangs 32 Tilefish 33 Triggerfish 34 Wrasse 35 See also

[edit] Angelfish

(dwarf angels in a reef setting has been heavily debated)

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Bellus angel	Genicanthus bellus		Moderate
Blue angelfish	Holacanthus bermudensis		Difficult
Coral beauty angel	Centropyge bispinosus		Easy to Moderate
Cortez angelfish	Pomacanthus zonipectus		Moderate
Eibli angel	Centropyge eibli		Easy to Moderate
Emperor angelfish	Pomacanthus imperator		Moderate
Flame angel	Centropyge loriculus		Easy to Moderate
Flameback angel	Centropyge acanthops		Moderate
French angel	Pomacanthus paru		Difficult
Half-black angel	Centropyge vroliki		Difficult
Herald's angel	Centropyge heraldi		Moderate
Koran angel	Pomacanthus semicirculatus		Moderate
Lemonpeel angel	Centropyge flavissima		Difficult
Majestic (blue-girdled) angel	Pomacanthus navarchus		Difficult
Midnight angel	Centropyge multifasciata		Difficult
Potter's angel	Centropyge potteri		Easy to Moderate
Pygmy angelfish	Centropyge argi		Moderate
Queen angel	Holacanthus ciliaris		Moderate
Rusty angel	Centropyge ferrugatus		Difficult
Swallowtail angel	Genicanthus semifasciatus		Moderate

[edit] Anthias

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Bartlett's anthias	Pseudanthias bartlettorum		Difficult
Squareback anthias	Pseudanthias pleurotaenia		Difficult

[edit] Bass

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Chalk bass	Serranus tortugarum		Easy to Moderate
Harlequin bass	Serranus trigrinus		Easy to Moderate
Tobacco bass	Serranus tabacarius		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Basslets

This category also includes the spiny basslets.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Black cap basslet	Gramma melacara	yes	Moderate
Blue assessor or blue devilfish	Assessor macneilli	yes	Easy to Moderate	(a spiny basslet)
Royal gramma	Gramma loreto	yes	Easy to Moderate
Yellow flavissimus assessor or yellow devilfish	Assessor flavissimus	yes	Easy to Moderate	(a spiny basslet)

[edit] Batfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Orbiculate batfish	Platax orbicularis	No	Difficult
Teira batfish	Platax teira	No	Difficult

[edit] Blennies

(excluding fang blennies, a few species will nip at polyps and giant clam mantles)

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Barnacle / spineyhead blenny	Acanthemblemaria spinosa		Moderate
Bicolor blenny	Ecsenius bicolor		Easy to Moderate
Black lined fang blenny	Meicanthus nigrolineatus		Easy to Moderate
Bundoon blenny	Meiacanthus bundoon		Easy to Moderate
Canary fang blenny	Meiacanthus oualanensis		Easy to Moderate
Lawnmower blenny, algae blenny, or combtooth blenny	Salarias fasciatus		Easy to Moderate
Midas blenny	Ecsenius midas		Easy to Moderate
Red lip blenny	Ophioblennius atlanticus		Easy to Moderate
Red Sea mimic blenny	Ecsenius gravieri		Moderate
Sailfin blenny	Emblemaria pandionis		Moderate
Tail spot blenny	Ecsenius stigmatura		Moderate
Two-spot blenny	Ecsenius bimaculatus		Moderate

[edit] Boxfish

Boxfish generally are very personable fish yet are poorly suited for the home aquaria. They are not thought of as an ordinary aquarium tank mate, but are quickly gaining popularity. They do pose a hazard in the community tank however. They are capable of releasing a very powerful toxin which can kill other fish and in some cases, the boxfish itself. They generally only use it when threatened or dying, but can become disturbed easily with aggressive tank mates or overcrowded aquarium. Generally boxfish are not reef safe.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Helmet cowfish	Tetrasomus gibbosus	No	Expert
Longhorn cowfish	Lactoria cornuta	No	Expert
Cubicus boxfish	Ostracion cubicus	No	Expert

[edit] Butterflyfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Copperband butterfly	Chelmon rostratus	yes	Difficult
Heniochus butterfly	Heniochus diphreutes		Moderate
Longnose butterfly	Forcipiger flavissimus	yes	Moderate
Raccoon butterfly	Cheatodon lunula	no	Moderate

[edit] Cardinalfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Bangaii / Kaudern's cardinal	Pterapogon kauderni		Moderate
Flame cardinal	Apogon maculatus		Difficult
Orange-striped cardinal	Apogon cyanosoma		Difficult
Pajama / spotted cardinal	Sphaeramia nematoptera		Moderate

[edit] Chromis

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Blackmouth bicolor chromis	Neoglyphidodon nigroris	Yes	Difficult	Aggressive
Black and white Chromis	Chromis iomelas	Yes	Moderate	Peaceful; likes acropora coral
Black bar Chromis	Chromis retrofasciata	Yes		Usually peaceful unless housed alone
Blue reef chromis	Chromis cyaneus	Yes	Difficult	Peaceful and schooling
Green reef Chromis	Chromis viridis	Yes	Easy	Peaceful and schooling
Limbaughi chromis	Chromis limbaughi	Yes	Easy	Peaceful
Orange line chromis	Acanthochromis polyacanthus	Yes	Easy	Peaceful
Sunshine chromis	Chromis insolatus	Yes	Easy

[edit] Clownfish

Clownfish are a marine aquarium species noted for their ability to host in anemones. They have been recently popularized by the movie, Finding Nemo.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Cinnamon or Coral Sea clown	Amphiprion melanopus	Yes	Easy to moderate	?
Clark's anemonefish	Amphiprion clarkii	Yes	Easy to moderate	?
False percula clown	Amphiprion ocellaris	Yes	Easy	Commonly available. Also sold in a black color variation.
Maroon clown	Premnas biaculeatus	Questionable	Easy to moderate	Can grow quite large and become aggressive towards smaller tankmates
Percula clown	Amphiprion percula	Yes	Easy to moderate	Almost indistinguishable from A. ocellaris. Most Percula clowns sold are actually A. ocellaris.
Pink skunk clown	Amphiprion perideraion	Yes	Moderate	?
Tomato clown	Amphiprion frenatus	Yes	Easy	commonly available

[edit] Damsels

(sometimes excluding larger, more aggressive Dascyllus varieties)

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Azure Damsel	Chrysiptera hemicyanea		Easy
Blue damsel	Chrysiptera cyanea		Easy	Also has an orange tail variant
Blue and gold damsel	Pomacentrus coelestis
Blue velvet damsel	Paraglyphidodon oxyodon
Bluefin damsel	Neoglyphidodon melas		Easy
Domino damsel	Dascyllus trimaculatus		Easy
Fiji blue devil damsel	Chrysiptera taupou		Easy
Four stripe damsel	Dascyllus melanurus
Garibaldi damsel	Hypsypops rubicunda		Easy to Moderate
Honey head damsel	Dischistodus prosopotaenia
Jewel damsel	Microspathodon chrysurus		Easy
Lemon / yellow damsel	Pomacentrus moluccensis		Easy
Marginated damsel	Dascyllus marginatus
Neon damsel	Pomacentrus alleni
Orangetail damsel	Chrysipetra cyanea		Easy
Pink smith damsel	Pomacentrus smithi		Easy
Sergeant major damsel	Abudefduf saxatilis		Easy
Springer's damsel	Chrysiptera springeri		Easy
Stark's damsel	Chrysiptera starcki		Easy
Talbots damsel	Chrysiptera talboti
Three stripe damsel	Dascyllus aruanus		Easy
Tuxedo damsel	Chrysiptera tricincta
Two Stripe Damsel	Dascyllus reticulatus
Yellow damsel	Amblyglyphidodon aureus
Yellowtail dascyllus	Dascyllus flavicauda
Yellowtail damsel	Chrysiptera parasema		Easy

[edit] Dottybacks

See Pseudochromis

[edit] Dragonets

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Mandarinfish	Synchiropus splendidus	Yes	Difficult	A brightly colored member of the dragonet family. Eats only copepods and will die in captivity without an adequate supply, which can only be had in very large, well established reef tanks
Red scooter blenny	Synchiropus stellatus	Yes	Moderate	Not a true blenny
Scooter blenny	Synchiropus ocellatus	Yes	Moderate	Not a true blenny

[edit] Eels

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Golden moray eel	Gymnothorax miliaris		Difficult
Snowflake eel	Echidna nebulosa		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Filefish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Fantail orange filefish	Pervagor spilosoma	No	Easy
Colored filefish	Pervagor melanocephalus	Caution	Easy
Tassle filefish	Chaetoderma pencilligera	Caution	Easy
Clown filefish	Cantherhines dumerili	Caution	Easy

[edit] Foxface

See Rabbitfish

[edit] Gobies

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Black clown goby	Gobiodon acicularis	Mostly	Moderate	Similar to Yellow clown goby, but black
Citron clown goby	Gobiodon citrinus	Mostly	Moderate	Can grow to up tp 3 inches in length
Engineer goby	Pholidichthys leucotaenia	Yes	Easy to Moderate	small burrowing goby
Green banded goby	Gobiosoma multifasciatum	Yes	Moderate	small burrowing goby with green vertical stripes
Red headed goby	Gobiosoma puncticulatus	Yes	Moderate	?
Watchman goby	Cryptocentrus cinctus	Yes	Moderate	A perching goby that can form a symbiotic relationship with pistol shrimp
Yashia goby	Stonogobiops yasha	Yes	?	?
Yellow clown goby	Gobiodon okinawae	Yes	Moderate	small yellow fish that likes branching corals

[edit] Groupers

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Panther grouper or spotted grouper	Calloplesiops altivelis	No	Difficult	Will grow to 20 inches in length. Requires a fish only tank of about 300 gallons.
Blue dot grouper	Cephalopholis argus		Moderate
Blue line grouper	Cephalopholis formosa		Moderate
Golden stripe soapfish	Grammistes sexlineatus		Moderate
Leaflip grouper	Pogonoperca punctata		Moderate
Miniatus grouper	Cephalopholis miniatus		Moderate
Red flag grouper	Cephalopholis urodeta		Moderate
Red louti grouper	Variola louti		Moderate
Spotted grouper	Epinephelus summana		Moderate

[edit] Hawkfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Arc eye hawkfish	Paracirrhites arcatus		Moderate
Flame hawkfish	Neocirrhites armatus		Easy to Moderate
Longnose hawkfish	Oxycirrhites typus		Moderate
Spotted hawkfish	Cirrhitichthys aprinus		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Hogfish

[edit] Jawfish

Jawfish are burrowers and require a sandy substrate of sufficient depth.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Black cap jawfish	Opistognathus lonchurus	Caution	Moderate	Requires a 30 gallon tank and 3 inch substrate. Tank should remain tightly lidded. May eat small shrimp.
Dusky jawfish	Opistognathus whitehurstii	Caution	Moderate	Requires a 30 gallon tank and 3 inch sand substrate. Tank should remain tightly lidded.
Yellowhead jawfish	Opistognathus aurifrons	Caution	Moderate	Requires a 30 gallon tank and 5 to 7 inch soft substrate. Tank should remain tightly lidded.

[edit] Lionfish

Lionfish have poisonous spines and should be treated with caution.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Colored volitan lionfish	Pterois russelli		Easy to Moderate
Fuzzy dwarf lion	Dendrochirus brachypterus		Very Difficult
Volitan lionfish	Pterois volitans	Caution	Easy to Moderate	Semi-aggressive; carnivore; Can grow up to 38cm in length in captivity

[edit] Pipefish

(can be killed by stinging corals and anemones)

[edit] Pufferfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Dogface puffer	Arothron nigropunctatus		Moderate
Green spotted puffer	Tetraodon nigroviridis		?
Porcupine puffer	Diodon holocanthus	corals:yes inverts:no	Moderate
Black-spotted porcupinefish	Diodon hystrix		Moderate
Sharpnose puffer	Canthigaster rostrata		Difficult
Valentine puffer	Canthigaster valentini		Moderate

[edit] Pseudochromis

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Australian multicolor pseudochromis	Ogilbyina novaehollandiae		Moderate
Blue flavivertex pseudochromis	Pseudochromis flavivertex		Moderate
Neon pseudochromis, Arabian dottyback or neon dottyback	Pseudochromis aldabraensis		Moderate
Bicolor pseudochromis	Pseudochromis paccagnallae		Easy to Moderate	resembles royal gramma in coloration
Purple stripe pseudochromis or diadema basslet	Pseudochromis diadema		Easy to Moderate
Indigo dottyback	Pseudochromis sankeyi		Moderate
Fridmani pseudochromis or Orchid dottyback	Pseudochromis fridmani		Easy to Moderate
Sailfin pseudochromis	Pseudochromis veliferus		Moderate
Splendid pseudochromis	Pseudochromis splendens		Moderate
Springeri pseudochromis	Pseudochromis springeri		Moderate
Strawberry pseudochromis or purple psuedochromis	Pseudochromis porphyreu		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Rabbitfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Foxface	Siganus vulpinus		Easy to Moderate
Magnificent foxface	Siganus magnificus		Easy to Moderate
Rabbitfish	Siganus spp.		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Rays

All rays have a poisonous spine near the base of the tail. Care must be taken to avoid this animal when performing tank maintenance and during capture.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Fiddler stingray	Trygonorhina fasciata	No	Expert	Requires a minimum 360 gallon aquarium with a 1 meter width and a fine grained substrate. Coarse substrates may damage the underside of this animal, causing infection.
Round stingray	Urobatis halleri	No	Expert	Requires a minimum 180 gallon aquarium and a fine grained substrate. Coarse substrates may damage the underside of this animal, causing infection.
Spotted Caribbean stingray	Urolophus spp.	No	Expert	Requires a minimum 180 gallon aquarium and a fine grained substrate. Coarse substrates may damage the underside of this animal, causing infection.
Thornback stingray	Platyrhinoidis triseriata	No	Expert	Requires a minimum 360 gallon aquarium with a 1 meter width

[edit] Seahorse

Seahorses are delicate animals with specialized care requirements. They require branching corals or other decorations in which to roost, and they are slow eaters, starving in the presence of more voracious tankmates. Additionally, wild caught seahorses do not always adapt well to captivity, so captive bred specimens are preferred.

Seahorses can be killed by stinging corals and anemones.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Black seahorse	Hippocampus reidi	Caution	Difficult
Colored seahorse	Hippocampus kuda	Caution	Difficult
Black seahorse	Hippocampus kelloggi	Caution	Difficult

[edit] Squirrelfish

[edit] Tangs

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Achilles tang	Acanthurus achilles		Difficult
Atlantic blue tang	Acanthurus coeruleus		Moderate
Blonde naso tang	Naso lituratus		Easy to Moderate
Bristletooth tang	Ctenochaetus striatus		Easy to Moderate
Chocolate tang	Acanthurus pyroferus		Easy to Moderate
Desjardini tang	Zebrasoma desjardinii		Moderate
Eibli mimic tang	Acanthurus tristis		Moderate
Hippo tang	Paracanthurus hepatus		Moderate
Kole tang	Ctenochaetus strigosus		Easy to Moderate
Mimic tang	Acanthurus pyroferus		Easy to Moderate
Naso tang	Naso lituratus		Easy to Moderate
Powder blue tang	Acunthurus leucosternon		Moderate
Purple tang	Zebrasoma xanthurus		Easy to Moderate
Sailfin tang	Zebrasoma veliferum		Easy to Moderate
Scopas tang	Zebrasoma scopas		Easy to Moderate
Yellow tang	Zebrasoma flavescens		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Tilefish

Though often categorized as Gobies, Tilefish are a separate species.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Blue-headed tilefish	Hoplolatilus starki		Easy to Moderate
Purple tilefish	Hoplolatilus purpureus		Easy to Moderate
Skunk tilefish	Hoplolatilus marcosi		Easy to Moderate

[edit] Triggerfish

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Blue jaw trigger	Xanthichthys auromarginatus		Moderate
Blue line trigger	Pseudobalistes fuscus		Moderate
Clown trigger	Balistoides conspicillum		Easy to Moderate
Hawaiian black trigger	Melichthys niger		Moderate
Niger trigger	Odonus niger		Easy to Moderate
Picasso trigger	Rhinecanthus aculeatus		Easy to Moderate
Pinktail sargassum trigger	Melichthys vidua		Moderate

[edit] Wrasse

Some wrasse species are agressive towards small fish and invertebrates.

Common name	Taxonomy	Reef safe	Care Level	Description
Carpenter's fairy wrasse	Paracheilinus carpenteri		Difficult
Eight line wrasse	Pseudocheilinus octotaenia		Easy to Moderate
Exquisite fairy wrasse	Cirrhilabrus exquisitus		Difficult
Fine-spotted fairy wrasse	Cirrhilabrus punctatus		Difficult
Four line wrasse	Pseudocheilinus tetrataenia		Easy to Moderate
Greenback fairy wrasse	Cirrhilabrus scottorum		Difficult
Harlequin tusk	Choerodon fasciata		Moderate
Multicolor velvet wrasse	Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura		Moderate
Potter's wrasse	Macropharyngodon geoffroyi		Difficult
Red-head fairy wrasse	Cirrhilabrus solorensis		Difficult
Six line wrasse	Pseudocheilinus hexataenia	Yes	Easy to Moderate	small purple fish with six dark horizontal lines

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marine aquarium fishes

• List of fish common names
• List of freshwater aquarium fish species