This is a list of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

sorted alphabetically by scientific name. There are 525 families in the list. __NOTOC__ A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z ----

A

Ab-Am - An-Ap - Ar-Au ----

Ab-Am

* Abyssocottidae *

Acanthuridae Acanthuridae are the family of surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 86 extant species of marine fish living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs. Many of the species are brightly colored and popular in aq ...

Acestrorhynchidae ''Acestrorhynchus'' ("needle jaw" ) is a genus of 14 species of characiform fish found only in fresh water in South America, the sole genus in the family Acestrorhynchidae. Their greatest diversity is in the Orinoco and Amazon basins. These fish ...

Achiridae The American soles are a family (Achiridae) of flatfish occurring in both freshwater and marine environments of the Americas. The family includes about 35 species in seven genera. These are closely related to the soles (Soleidae), and have ...

* Achiropsettidae *

Acipenseridae Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...

Acropomatidae Acropomatidae is a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly known as lanternbellies. ''Acropoma'' species are notable for having light-emitting organs along their undersides. They are found in all temperate and tropical oceans, usually ...

Adrianichthyidae The ricefishes are a family (Adrianichthyidae) of small ray-finned fish that are found in fresh and brackish waters from India to Japan and out into the Malay Archipelago, most notably Sulawesi (where the Lake Poso and Lore Lindu species are ...

Agonidae Agonidae is a family of small, bottom-dwelling, cold-water marine fish. Common names for members of this family include poachers, Irish lords, sea ravens, alligatorfishes, starsnouts, hooknoses, and rockheads. They are notable for having elongate ...

Akysidae The stream catfishes comprise the family Akysidae of catfishes. Distribution and habitat Akysids are known from across a large area in Southeast Asia. They are found in fresh water. Fish of the subfamily Parakysinae are primarily found in the Mal ...

Albulidae Albulidae is a family of fish, commonly known as the bonefishes, that are popular as game fish in Florida, select locations in the South Pacific and the Bahamas (where two bonefish are featured on the 10-cent coin) and elsewhere. The family is s ...

Alepisauridae Lancetfishes are large oceanic predatory fishes in the genus ''Alepisaurus'' ("scaleless lizard") in the monotypic taxon, monogeneric family Alepisauridae. Lancetfishes grow up to in length. Very little is known about their biology, though the ...

Alepocephalidae Slickheads, also known as nakedheads or smoothheads, are deep water fishes that belong to the family Alepocephalidae. They are most commonly found in the bathypelagic layer, which is approximately 3000m below the surface. They get their name from ...

Alestiidae African tetras (family Alestidae, formerly spelled Alestiidae) are a group of characiform fish exclusively found in Africa. This family contains about 18 genera and 119 species. Among the best known members are the Congo tetra, and African tigerf ...

Alopiidae Thresher sharks are large lamniform sharks of the family Alopiidae found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world; the family contains three extant species, all within the genus ''Alopias''. All three thresher shark species have been l ...

Amarsipidae ''Amarsipus'' is the sole genus in the bagless glassfish family, Amarsipidae. It contains the single species ''Amarsipus carlsbergi'', the amarsipa, which is a small and slender fish that lives in equatorial parts of the Indian and Pacific Ocean ...

Ambassidae The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, the Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes that were formerly classified in the order Perciformes, but most authorities consider this order to be paraphyletic and that the Ambassidae are of uncertain a ...

Amblycipitidae The Amblycipitidae are a family of catfishes, commonly known as torrent catfishes. It includes three genus, genera, ''Amblyceps'', ''Liobagrus'', and ''Xiurenbagrus'', and about 36 species. Taxonomy The family Amblycipitidae is a monophyly, mono ...

Amblyopsidae The Amblyopsidae are a fish family commonly referred to as cavefish, blindfish, or swampfish. They are small freshwater fish found in the dark environments of caves (underground lakes, pools, rivers and streams), springs and swamps in the easter ...

Amiidae The Amiidae are a family of basal ray-finned fishes. The bowfin is the only species to survive today, although additional species in all four subfamilies of Amiidae are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. Bowfins are now found ...

* Ammodytidae *

Amphiliidae The loach catfishes are a family, Amphiliidae, of catfishes ( order Siluriformes). They are widespread in tropical Africa, but are most common in streams at high elevations; most species are able to cling to rocks in fast-flowing streams. The 13 ...

An-Ap

* Anabantidae *

Anablepidae Anablepidae is a family of fishes which live in brackish and freshwater habitats from southern Mexico to southern South America. There are three genera with sixteen species: the four-eyed fishes (genus '' Anableps''), the onesided livebearers (g ...

Anacanthobatidae The Anacanthobatidae, the smooth skates or leg skates, are a family of skates found at depths below in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They lack the dorsal denticles (sharp, tooth-like scales) of other rays, hence their name, from Gr ...

Anarhichadidae Anarhichadidae, the wolffishes, sea wolves or wolf eels, is a family of marine ray finned fishes belonging to the order Scorpaeniformes. These are predatory, eel shaped fishes which are native to the cold waters of the Arctic, North Pacific and ...

Anguillidae The Anguillidae are a family of ray-finned fish that contains the freshwater eels. Eighteen of the 19 extant species and six subspecies in this family are in the genus ''Anguilla''. They are elongated fish with snake-like bodies, their long dorsa ...

Anomalopidae Anomalopidae (lanterneye fishes or flashlight fishes) are a family of fish distinguished by bioluminescent organs located underneath their eyes, for which they are named. These light organs contain luminous bacteria and can be "shut off" by the f ...

Anoplogastridae Fangtooths are beryciform fish of the family (biology), family Anoplogastridae (sometimes spelled "Anoplogasteridae") that live in the deep sea. The name is from the Greek language, Greek , meaning "unarmed", and (), meaning "stomach". With a ci ...

Anoplopomatidae Anoplopomatidae, the sablefishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. This family is the only family in the monotypic superfamily Anoplopomatoidea. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Oce ...

Anostomidae The Anostomidae are a family of ray-finned fishes that belong to the order Characiformes. Closely related to the Chilodontidae and formerly included with them, the Anostomidae contain about 150 described species. Commonly known as anostomids, t ...

Anotopteridae The daggertooths (genus ''Anotopterus'') are a genus of marine mesopelagic fish in the order Aulopiformes, the sole genus of the family Anotopteridae. They are found in oceans worldwide, but prefer cooler waters. Description Daggertooths are not ...

* Antennariidae * Aphredoderidae * Aphyonidae *

Apistidae Apistinae, the wasp scorpionfishes, is a subfamily of venomous, marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and related species. These fishes are native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Ta ...

Aploactinidae Little velvetfishes or simply velvetfishes are a family, the Aploactinidae, of marine ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. They are small fish that have skin with a velvet texture. They live on the sea bottom close to t ...

Aplocheilidae Aplocheilidae, the Asian killifishes or Asian rivulines, is a family of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes found in Asia. Some authorities use this family-group name, which is well-established, for a single lumped aplocheiloid family as it giv ...

* Aplodactylidae *

Apogonidae Cardinalfishes are a family, Apogonidae, of ray-finned fishes found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; they are chiefly marine, but some species are found in brackish water and a few (notably ''Glossamia'') are found in fresh water. A h ...

Apteronotidae The ghost knifefishes are a family, Apteronotidae, of ray-finned fishes in the order Gymnotiformes. These fish are native to Panama and South America. They inhabit a wide range of freshwater habitats, but more than half the species in the family ...

Ar-Au

Aracanidae The Aracanidae are a family of bony fishes related to the boxfishes. They are somewhat more primitive than the true boxfishes, but have a similar protective covering of thickened scale plates. They are found in the Indian Ocean and the west Paci ...

Arapaimidae Arapaiminae is a subfamily of freshwater osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes belonging to the family Osteoglossidae. It includes the South American arapaimas of the Amazon Basin, Amazon and Essequibo River, Essequibo basins and the African arow ...

Argentinidae The herring smelts or argentines are a family, Argentinidae, of marine smelts. They are similar in appearance to smelts (family Osmeridae) but have much smaller mouths. They are found in oceans throughout the world. They are small fishes, growi ...

Ariidae The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family of catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species. Taxonomy ...

Ariommatidae Ariomattidae is a family of marine ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called becau ...

Arripidae ''Arripis'' is a genus of marine fishes from Australia and New Zealand, known as Australian salmon, kahawai and Australian herring. They are the only members of the family Arripidae. Despite the common name, Australian salmon are not related t ...

Artedidraconidae The Artedidraconidae, barbeled plunderfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes, notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarctica. ...

Aspredinidae The Aspredinidae are a small South American family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes) also known as the banjo catfishes, with about 43 species. Distribution Aspredinids are found throughout the major tropical rivers of South America (e.g., Magd ...

Astroblepidae ''Astroblepus'' is a genus of fish in the family Astroblepidae found in South America and Panama. This genus is the only member of its family. These catfishes are primarily found in torrential streams in the Andean area. ''Astroblepus pholeter'' ...

* Ateleopodidae *

Atherinidae The Old World silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. Atherinidae are abundant and considered bony fish (teleost) that are widespread globally, living in rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters. They occur worldw ...

* Atherinopsidae *

Auchenipteridae The driftwood catfishes are catfishes of the family (biology), family Auchenipteridae. The two genera of the former family Ageneiosidae have been placed here, resulting in a grouping of about 125 species in about 22 genera. These fish are found ...

Aulopidae The Aulopidae are a small family of aulopiform fish. They are found in most tropical and subtropical oceans, and are commonly known as flagfins. The aulopids resemble lizardfishes in appearance, and range up to in length. They have large dorsal ...

Aulorhynchidae Aulorhynchidae, the tube-snouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Gasterosteoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Aulorhynchidae was first propo ...

Aulostomidae The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the monogeneric family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order Syngnathiformes, together with the seaho ...

B

Bagridae The Bagridae are a family of catfish that are native to Africa ('' Bagrus'') and Asia (all other genera) from Japan to Borneo. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes. Many large bagrid ...

* Balistidae *

Balitoridae The hillstream loaches or river loaches are a family, the Balitoridae, of small fish from South, Southeast and East Asia. The family includes about 202 species. They are sometimes sold as "lizardfish" or (in Germany) "flossensaugers". Many of the ...

* Banjosidae * Barbourisiidae *

Bathyclupeidae Bathyclupeidae is a family of Perciformes, called deep sea herrings. They are marine fishes found in tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. They grow up to about 20 cm long. Timeline ImageSi ...

Bathydraconidae The Bathydraconidae, or the Antarctic dragonfishes, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes, notothenioids belonging to the Perciform suborder Notothenioidei. The family comprises four genera. These fishes are endemic to deep waters off Antarct ...

Bathylagidae The deep-sea smelts are any members of the family (biology), family Bathylagidae, a distinct group of marine smelts. Deep-sea smelts are marine fishes found in deep waters throughout the oceans, down to in depth. They are small fishes, growing ...

* Bathylutichthyidae * Bathymasteridae *

Batrachoididae Batrachoididae is the only family in the ray-finned fish order Batrachoidiformes . Members of this family are usually called toadfish, or "frogfish": both the English common name and scientific name refer to their toad-like appearance (''batrak ...

Bedotiidae Bedotiinae are a subfamily of the rainbowfish family Melanotaeniidae, commonly known as the Madagascar rainbowfish, Madagascan rainbowfish, or Malagasy rainbowfish due to their endemism to Madagascar. It includes two genera, ''Bedotia'' and ''Rhe ...

Belonidae Needlefish (family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., ' ...

* Bembridae *

Berycidae Berycidae is a small family of deep-sea fishes, related to the squirrelfishes. The family includes the alfonsino The alfonsino (''Beryx decadactylus''), also known as the alfonsin, longfinned beryx, red bream, or imperador, is a species of dee ...

* Blenniidae *

Bothidae Bothidae or lefteye flounders are a family of flounders. They are called "lefteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their right sides, with both eyes on their left sides. The family is also distinguished by the presence of ...

Bovichtidae Bovichtidae, the temperate icefishes or thornfishes, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, classified in the suborder Notothenioidei of the order Perciformes. They are native to coastal waters off Australia, New Zealand, and South America. ...

Brachaeluridae ''Brachaelurus'' (blind sharks) is the sole genus of sharks in the family Brachaeluridae in the order Orectolobiformes. Only two species of blind sharks occur, both of which are native to shallow coastal waters up to deep, off the eastern coast ...

* Brachionichthyidae *

Bramidae Pomfrets are perciform fishes belonging to the family Bramidae. The family currently includes 20 species across seven genera. Several species are important food sources for humans, especially ''Brama brama'' in South Asia. The earlier form of t ...

Bregmacerotidae Codlets are a family, Bregmacerotidae, of cod-like fishes, containing the single genus ''Bregmaceros'' found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world. They are very small fishes and even the largest, ''B. lanceolatus'', reaches on ...

Bythitidae The viviparous brotulas form a family, the Bythitidae, of ophidiiform fishes. They are known as viviparous brotulas as they generally viviparity, bear live young, although there are indications that some species (at least ''Didymothallus crinicep ...

C

Ca - Ce - Ch - Ci-Cu - Cy ----

Ca

Caesionidae Caesionidae, the fusiliers, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 23 species. They are related to the snappers, but adapted for feeding on plankton, rather than on larger prey. They are fo ...

* Callanthiidae *

Callichthyidae Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes), called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates (or scutes) along the lengths of their bodies. It contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as many ...

Callionymidae Dragonets are small, percomorph, marine fish of the diverse family Callionymidae (from the Greek ''kallis'', "beautiful" and ', "name") found mainly in the tropical waters of the western Indo-Pacific. They are benthic organisms, spending most ...

Callorhinchidae Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

Caproidae Caproidae, or boarfishes, are a small family of marine fishes comprising two genera and 12 species. They were formerly placed in the order Zeiformes with the dories, but are now placed with the Perciformes since they have many perciform charac ...

* Caracanthidae *

Carangidae The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the only family ...

Carapidae Pearlfish are marine fish in the ray-finned fish family Carapidae. Pearlfishes inhabit the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at depths to , along oceanic shelves and slopes. They are slender, elongated fish with no sca ...

* Carcharhinidae *

Caristiidae Caristiidae, the manefishes, are a family of perciform fishes which today includes 19 extant species distributed in four genera. ''Chalcidichthys malacapterygius'' and ''Absalomichthys velifer'' are extinct species from the Upper Miocene of South ...

Catostomidae The Catostomidae are the suckers of the order Cypriniformes, with about 78 species in this family of freshwater fishes. The Catostomidae are almost exclusively native to North America. The only exceptions are ''Catostomus catostomus,'' found in ...

* Caulophrynidae

Ce

Centracanthidae The Sparidae are a family (biology), family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The Sheepshead (Archosargus), sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compre ...

Centrarchidae Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes (formerly belonging to the deprecated order Centrarchiformes), native only to North America. There are eight universally inc ...

Centriscidae The Centriscidae are a family of fishes from the order Syngnathiformes which includes the snipefishes, shrimpfishes, and bellowfishes. A small family, consisting of only about a dozen marine species, they are of an unusual appearance, as reflecte ...

* Centrogenyidae * Centrolophidae *

Centrophoridae The Centrophoridae are a family of squaliform sharks. The family contains just two genera and about 15 species. They are sometimes called gulper sharks, but this is also the name of a specific species in the family, ''Centrophorus granulosus''. ...

Centrophrynidae The horned lantern fish or prickly seadevil (''Centrophryne spinulosa'') is a deep-sea anglerfish found worldwide. It is the monotypic, sole species in the family Centrophrynidae, distinguished from other deep-sea anglerfishes by various characte ...

Centropomidae ''Centropomus'' is a genus of predominantly marine fish comprising the family Centropomidae. The type species is ''Centropomus undecimalis'', the common snook. Commonly known as snooks or ''róbalos'', the ''Centropomus'' species are native to t ...

* Cepolidae *

Ceratiidae Sea devils are the family of deep-sea anglerfish known as the Ceratiidae, from the Greek ''keras'', "horn", referring to the bioluminescent lure that projects from the fishes' forehead. They are among the most widespread of the anglerfishes, f ...

* Ceratodontidae *

Cetomimidae Cetomimidae is a family of small, deep-sea cetomimiform fish. They are among the most deep-living fish known, with some species recorded at depths in excess of . Adults are known as flabby whalefishes while juveniles are known as tapetails and ...

Cetopsidae The Cetopsidae are a small family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes), commonly called the whale catfishes. Taxonomy This family contains five genera divided into two subfamilies, Cetopsinae and Helogeneinae. Helogeneinae was previously a family ...

Cetorhinidae Cetorhinidae is a family of filter feeding mackerel sharks, whose members are commonly known as basking sharks. It includes the extant basking shark, ''Cetorhinus'', as well as two extinct genera, ''Caucasochasma'' and ''Keasius ''Keasius'' is ...

Ch

Chacidae ''Chaca'' is the only genus in the catfish family Chacidae. These fish are commonly known as squarehead catfishes, frogmouth catfishes, or angler catfishes. These unusual fish have a sedentary lifestyle and spend much of their time motionless. T ...

Chaenopsidae The blenny, blennioid family Chaenopsidae includes the pike-blennies, tube-blennies, and flagblennies, all percomorpha, percomorph marine fish in the order Blenniiformes. The family is strictly tropical, ranging from North America, North to South ...

* Chaetodontidae * Champsodontidae *

Chanidae Chanidae is a family of fishes which has a number of fossil genera and one monotypic extant genus which contains the milkfish (''Chanos chanos''). Taxonomy The family Chanidae is subdivided into two subfamilies, the Rubiesichthyinae, which comp ...

Channichthyidae The crocodile icefish or white-blooded fish comprise a family (Channichthyidae) of notothenioid fish found in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are the only known vertebrates to lack hemoglobin in their blood as adults. Icefish populatio ...

Channidae The snakeheads are members of the freshwater perciform fish family Channidae, native to parts of Africa and Asia. These elongated, predatory fish are distinguished by their long dorsal fins, large mouths, and shiny teeth. They breathe air with ...

Characidae Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their st ...

Chaudhuriidae Chaudhuriidae, is a family of small freshwater eel-like fish related to the swamp eels and spiny eels, commonly known as the earthworm eels. The known species are literally the size and shape of earthworms, thus the family name. While one specie ...

* Chaunacidae *

Cheilodactylidae Cheilodactylidae , commonly called morwongs but also known as butterfish, fingerfins, jackassfish, sea carp, snappers, and moki, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in subtropical oceans in the Southern Hemisphere. The common ...

Chiasmodontidae The Chiasmodontidae, snaketooth fishes or swallowers, are a family of deep-sea percomorph fishes, part of the order Trachiniformes, known from oceans worldwide. Timeline ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = l ...

* Chilodontidae *

Chimaeridae The Chimaeridae, or short-nosed chimaeras, are a family of cartilaginous fish. They resemble other chimaeras in general form and habits, but have short, rounded snouts, without the modifications found in related families. Many species have lon ...

Chirocentridae The wolf herrings are a family (Chirocentridae) of two marine species of ray-finned fish related to the herrings. Both species have elongated bodies and jaws with long sharp teeth that facilitate their ravenous appetites, mostly for other fish. ...

Chironemidae ''Chironemus'' is a genus of marine ray finned fish, commonly known as kelpfishes, belonging to the family Chironemidae. They are found in the temperate waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy The Kelpfishes were placed in the monogene ...

Chlamydoselachidae ''Chlamydoselachus'' is a genus of sharks and the sole extant member of the family Chlamydoselachidae, in the order Hexanchiformes. It contains two extant and several extinct species. The most widely known species still surviving is the frilled ...

Chlopsidae The Chlopsidae, or false morays, are a family of eels found in coral reefs worldwide. As their name suggests, they somewhat resemble moray eels in appearance. However, they are smaller than true morays, ranging from in length. Genera The family ...

Chlorophthalmidae Greeneyes are deep-sea aulopiform marine fishes in the small family Chlorophthalmidae. Thought to have a circumglobal distribution in tropical and temperate waters, the family contains just 18 species in two genera. The family name Chlorophthalm ...

Ci-Cu

Cichlidae Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted thi ...

Cirrhitidae Cirrhitidae, the hawkfishes, are a family of marine perciform ray-finned fishes found in tropical seas and which are associated with coral reefs. Taxonomy The Cirrhitidae were first recognised as a family by the Scots-born Australian naturalis ...

Citharidae The Citharidae or largescale flounders are a small family of flounders with four genera. Three genera are restricted to the Indo-Pacific, while ''Citharus'' is from the Mediterranean and East Atlantic (off northwest Africa). There are a total of ...

Citharinidae The Citharinidae, the lutefishes, are a small family of characiform fish. They are freshwater fish native to Africa, and are sufficiently abundant to be significant food fishes. They are deep-bodied, silvery fish, measuring up to in length and ...

* Clariidae *

Clinidae Clinidae is a family of marine fish in the order Blenniiformes within the series Ovalentaria, part of the Percomorpha . Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in both the Southern and Northern Hemis ...

Clupeidae Clupeidae is a family of ray-finned fishes, comprising, for instance, the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa, and menhadens. The clupeoids include many of the most important food fishes in the world, and are also commonly caught for production of ...

Cobitidae Cobitidae, also known as the True loaches, is a family of Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families (see below). The family includ ...

* Coiidae *

Colocongridae The Colocongridae, the worm eels or short-tail eels are a family of eels, containing a single genus, ''Coloconger''. Colongrids are found in tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and West Pacific oceans. They are bottom-dwelling fish, living i ...

* Comephoridae *

Congiopodidae Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Taxonomy Congiopodidae was first formally ...

Congridae The Congridae are the family of conger and garden eels. Congers are valuable and often large food fishes, while garden eels live in colonies, all protruding from the sea floor after the manner of plants in a garden (thus the name). The family inc ...

Coryphaenidae ''Coryphaena'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes known as the dolphinfishes, and is currently the only known genus in the family Coryphaenidae. The generic name is from Greek κορυφή (''koryphē'', "crown, top") and -αινα (-''aina'' ...

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

Cottocomephoridae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

Cranoglanididae ''Cranoglanis'' is the only genus of armorhead catfishes. Taxonomy ''Cranoglanis bouderius'' was first described as ''Bagrus bouderius'' in 1846 by John Richardson based on a Chinese watercolor painting. Wilhelm Peters later described ''Cranogla ...

Creediidae The sandburrowers or simply burrowers are a family, Creediidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are native to coastal waters the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are very small fishes; with the exception of the larger Donaldson's sandbur ...

Crenuchidae The Crenuchidae, South American darters, are a family of freshwater fish of the order Characiformes. The 12 genera include about 74 species, though several species are undescribed. These fish are relatively small (usually under in standard le ...

* Cryptacanthodidae *

Ctenoluciidae The Ctenoluciidae (meaning "comb light family"), also known as pike-characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes from Panama and South America. They have elongated, pike-like bodies, and several sharp and conical teeth. They are relativel ...

Curimatidae The Curimatidae, toothless characins, are a family of freshwater fishes, of the order Characiformes. They originate from southern Costa Rica to northern Argentina. The family has around 105 species, many of them frequently exploited for human con ...

Cy

Cyclopteridae The Cyclopteridae are a family of marine fishes, commonly known as lumpsuckers or lumpfish, in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean, Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic, and Pacific Ocean, North Paci ...

Cyematidae The bobtail snipe eels are two species of deep-sea eels in the family Cyematidae, one only in each of two genera. They are small elongate fishes, growing up to 16cm (6 in) in length. The family Cyematidae is characterized by thin, short bodies w ...

Cynodontidae Cynodontidae, also known as dogtooth characins or vampire tetras, are a family of predatory, characiform freshwater fishes from South America. This group is not very diverse, and includes only five genera and 14 species. Most of what is known ab ...

* Cynoglossidae *

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

* Cyprinodontidae

D

Dactylopteridae The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly or glide in the air (like flying fish), an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurna ...

Dactyloscopidae Sand stargazers are blennioids; perciform marine fish of the family Dactyloscopidae. Found in temperate to tropical waters of North and South America; some may also inhabit brackish environments. The giant sand stargazer (''Dactylagnus mundus'' ...

Dalatiidae The Dalatiidae are the family of kitefin sharks of the order Squaliformes (the term "kitefin shark" also refers specifically to the species ''Dalatias licha''). Members of this family are small, under long, and are found worldwide. They have cig ...

* Dasyatidae * Dentatherinidae * Denticipitidae * Derichthyidae * Diceratiidae *

Dichistiidae ''Dichistius'' is a genus of perciform fishes, the galjoen fishes, native to the Atlantic coast of southern Africa (''D. capensis'') and the Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa (''D. multifasciatus''). Growing to lengths of (''D. capensis'') ...

* Dinolestidae *

Dinopercidae The Dinopercidae, known commonly as the cavebasses, are a Family (biology), family of marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fish from the Perciformes, perciform Superfamily (biology), superfamily Percoidea. They are native to the western Indian Ocean ...

* Diodontidae *

Diplomystidae Diplomystidae, the velvet catfishes, are a family of primitive catfishes endemic to freshwater habitats in Argentina and Chile in southern South America. It currently contains six species in two genera. Taxonomy In traditional schemes, the fam ...

* Diretmidae *

Doradidae The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, primarily the Amazon basin and the Guianas. Doradids are omnivorous. Taxonomy As of 2007, 3 ...

Draconettidae The Draconettidae, slope dragonets, are a small family (about 14 species) of fish in the order Perciformes. They are found in temperate to tropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific Oceans. They are closely related to, and appea ...

Drepaneidae ''Drepane'' is a genus of fishes known commonly as the sicklefishes. It is the only genus in the perciform fish family Drepaneidae. These fish occur in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, and in the eastern Atlantic near Africa. Species The ...

Dussumieriidae Dussumieriidae is a family of clupeiform fishes popularly called the "round herrings". It is now recognized by FishBase as a family in its own right; it had been considered to be a subfamily of Clupeidae. It contains two Extant taxon, extant g ...

E

Echeneidae The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-li ...

Echinorhinidae ''Echinorhinus'' is the only extant genus in the family Echinorhinidae. Taxonomy Echinorhinidae are traditionally classified in the order Squaliformes, together with kitefin and gulper sharks.Compagno, 2005. "Sharks of the World". However, a ...

Elassomatidae ''Elassoma'' is a genus of freshwater fish, the only member of subfamily Elassomatinae of the sunfish family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes. It is sometimes classified as a separate family, the Elassomatidae, in a monotypic suborder, E ...

Electrophoridae The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of Neotropical realm, neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their electric fish, ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, deli ...

Eleginopidae The Patagonian blennie (''Eleginops maclovinus''), also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus ''Eleginops''. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitat ...

Eleotridae Eleotridae is a family of fish commonly known as sleeper gobies, with about 34 genera and 180 species. Most species are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region, but there are also species in subtropical and temperate regions, warmer parts of th ...

Elopidae The Elopidae are a family of ray-finned fish containing a single living genus '' Elops''. They are commonly known as ladyfish, skipjacks, jack-rashes, or tenpounders. The ladyfish are a coastal-dwelling fish found throughout the tropical and sub ...

* Embiotocidae *

Emmelichthyidae The Emmelichthyidae are a family of small to medium-sized marine fish known commonly as rovers. The family was once much larger, including a wide range of plankton-eating fish, but most of the genera were discovered to be unrelated examples of p ...

Engraulidae An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

* Enoplosidae *

Ephippidae Ephippidae is a family containing the spadefishes, with about eight genera and a total of 20 marine species. Well-known species include the Atlantic spadefish (''Chaetodipterus faber'') and the reef-dwelling genus ''Platax'', the batfishes, whic ...

* Epigonidae *

Erethistidae Erethistidae are a family of catfishes that originate from southern Asia. It includes about 45 species. Taxonomy This family includes species previously placed in Sisoridae. They were removed because they were thought to be more closely related ...

* Ereuniidae *

Erythrinidae The Erythrinidae are a family of fishes found in rivers and other freshwater habitats from Costa Rica south as far as Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the s ...

Esocidae Esocidae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. While the family traditionally only contained the genus ''Esox'', recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered ''Novumbra'' and ' ...

Euclichthyidae The Eucla cod (''Euclichthys polynemus'') is a deepwater marine fish belonging to the cod order ( Gadiformes). It is the only species currently classified in the family Euclichthyidae. It is named after the town of Eucla, Western Australia, in ...

Eurypharyngidae The pelican eel (''Eurypharynx pelecanoides'') is a deep-sea eel. It is the only known member of the genus ''Eurypharynx'' and the family Eurypharyngidae. It belongs to the "saccopharyngiforms", members of which were historically placed in their ...

Evermannellidae Sabertooth or sabretooth fish are small, fierce-looking deep-sea aulopiform fish comprising the family Evermannellidae. The family is small, with just eight species in three genera represented; they are distributed throughout tropical to subtropi ...

Exocoetidae The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird ...

F

Fistulariidae The cornetfishes or flutemouths are a small family, the Fistulariidae, of extremely elongated fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. The family consists of a single genus, ''Fistularia'', with four species, found worldwide in tropical and subtropic ...

Fundulidae Fundulidae is the family of topminnows and North American killifishes. Distribution The 46 species are native to North America as far south as Yucatan, and to the islands of Bermuda and Cuba, occurring in both freshwater and marine environments. ...

G

Gadidae The Gadidae are a family of marine fish, included in the order Gadiformes, known as the cods, codfishes, or true cods. It contains several commercially important fishes, including the cod, haddock, whiting, and pollock. Most gadid species are ...

Galaxiidae The Galaxiidae are a family of mostly small freshwater fish in the Southern Hemisphere. The majority live in Southern Australia or New Zealand, but some are found in South Africa, southern South America, Lord Howe Island, New Caledonia, and th ...

Gasteropelecidae The freshwater hatchetfish are a family, Gasteropelecidae, of ray-finned fish from South and Central America. The common hatchetfish is the most popular member among fish keeping hobbyists. The family includes three genera: '' Carnegiella'' (f ...

Gasterosteidae Families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of socie ...

Gastromyzontidae The Gastromyzontidae are a family of loaches native to China and Southeast Asia, where typically found in streams and rivers with a fast current. The family includes about 137 species in eighteen genera. This family was resurrected by M. Kottel ...

Gempylidae The Gempylidae are a family of perciform fishes commonly known as snake mackerels or escolars. The family includes about 25 species. They are elongated fishes with a similar appearance to barracudas, having a long dorsal fin, usually with one or ...

Geotriidae ''Geotria'' is the only genus in the lamprey family Geotriidae. It has 2 known species: ''Geotria australis'' (pouched lamprey) and ''Geotria macrostoma ''Geotria'' is the only genus in the lamprey family Geotriidae. It has 2 known species: ...

Gerreidae The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fish in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 53 species found worldwide in tropical and warm temperate regions. They mostly inhabit coastal salt and brackish waters, although some occur in fre ...

Gibberichthyidae The Gibberichthyidae, also known as gibberfishes, are a small family of deep sea stephanoberyciform fish, containing a single genus, ''Gibberichthys'' (from the Latin ''gibba'', "humpbacked" and the Greek ''ichthys'', "fish"), and two species. F ...

* Gigantactinidae * Giganturidae *

Ginglymostomatidae The Ginglymostomatidae are a cosmopolitan family of carpet sharks known as nurse sharks, containing four species in three genera. Common in shallow, tropical and subtropical waters, these sharks are sluggish and docile bottom-dwellers.

* Glaucosomatidae * Gnathanacanthidae *

Gobiesocidae Clingfishes are fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the order Gobiesociformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coast, but a few species in deeper seas or ...

Gobiidae Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...

Gonorynchidae Gonorynchidae is a family of the Gonorynchiformes which has a number of fossil taxa and one extant genus, ''Gonorynchus ''Gonorynchus'' is a genus of long thin gonorynchiform ray-finned fish, commonly called beaked salmon or beaked sandfish ...

Gonostomatidae The Gonostomatidae are a family of mesopelagic marine fish, commonly named bristlemouths, lightfishes, or anglemouths. It is a relatively small family, containing only eight known genera and 32 species. However, bristlemouths make up for their l ...

Goodeidae Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Goode ...

Grammatidae Grammatidae is a small family of ray-finned fishes which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha. They are commonly known as basslets. Th ...

Grammicolepididae The Grammicolepididae are a small family of deep-sea fishes, called tinselfishes due to their silvery color. They are related to the dories, and have similar deeply compressed bodies. The largest species, the thorny tinselfish, ''Grammicolepis ...

Gymnarchidae ''Gymnarchus niloticus'' – commonly known as the ''aba'', ''aba aba'', frankfish, freshwater rat-tail, ''poisson-cheval'', or African knifefish – is an electric fish, and the only species in the genus ''Gymnarchus'' and the family Gymnarchid ...

* Gymnotidae *

Gymnuridae The butterfly rays are the rays forming the genus ''Gymnura'' and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in estuaries. The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc fo ...

Gyrinocheilidae ''Gyrinocheilus'' is the single genus in the family Gyrinocheilidae, a family of small Southeast Asian cypriniform fishes that live in fast-flowing freshwater mountain streams. The species in this genus are commonly called "algae eaters." They ho ...

H

Haemulidae Haemulidae is a family of fishes in the order Perciformes known commonly as grunts. It is made up of the two subfamilies Haemulinae (grunters) and Plectorhynchinae (sweetlips), which in turn contain about 133 species in 19 genera. These fish ar ...

Halosauridae Halosaurs are eel-shaped fishes found only at great ocean depths. As the family Halosauridae, halosaurs are one of two families within the order Notacanthiformes; the other being the deep-sea spiny eels, Notacanthidae. Halosaurs are thought to h ...

* Harpagiferidae * Helogeneidae *

Helostomatidae Kissing gouramis, also known as kissing fish or kissers (''Helostoma temminckii''), are medium-sized tropical freshwater fish comprising the monotypic labyrinth fish family Helostomatidae (from the Greek ''elos'' tud, nail ''stoma'' outh. These ...

Hemigaleidae The weasel sharks are a family, the Hemigaleidae, of ground sharks found from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to the continental Indo-Pacific. They are found in shallow coastal waters to a depth of . Most species are small, reaching no more than ...

Hemiodontidae The Hemiodontidae are a small family of freshwater characins found in northern South America, south to the Paraná-Paraguay Basin. The larger species are popular food fish. Hemiodontids have a streamlined body shape; many are fast-swimming, and ...

Hemiramphidae Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are ...

Hemiscylliidae The Hemiscylliidae are a family of sharks in the order Orectolobiformes, commonly known as longtail carpet sharks and sometimes as bamboo sharks. They are found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific. They are relatively small sharks ...

Hemitripteridae The Hemitripterinae is a subfamily of the scorpaeniform The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bo ...

Hepsetidae ''Hepsetus'' is a genus of African fishes, the African pikes or African pike characins, in the order Characiformes. It is the sole genus in the family Hepsetidae. It was long believed that only a single widespread species existed, ''H. odoe'', b ...

Heptapteridae The Heptapteridae, or three-barbeled catfishes, are a family of catfish that originate from the Americas. Most species are restricted to South America, but '' Imparfinis lineatus'', '' Nemuroglanis panamensis'' and '' Pimelodella chagresi'' are ...

Heterenchelyidae The Heterenchelyidae or mud eels are a small family of eels native to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and eastern Pacific. Heterenchelyids are bottom-dwelling fish adapted to burrowing into soft mud. They have large mouths and no pectoral fin F ...

* Heterodontidae *

Heteropneustidae ''Heteropneustes'' is a genus of catfishes, the airsac catfishes, native to Asia. This genus is monotypic. Their bodies are elongated and compressed with greatly depressed heads. They have long air sacs that serve as lungs that extend from the ...

Hexagrammidae Hexagrammidae, the greenlings, is a family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Cottoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Hexagrammidae was first proposed as a family i ...

* Hexanchidae *

Hexatrygonidae The sixgill stingray (''Hexatrygon bickelli'') is a species of stingray and the only extant member of the family Hexatrygonidae. Although several species of sixgill stingrays have been described historically, they may represent variations in a s ...

Himantolophidae The footballfish form a family, Himantolophidae, of globose, deep-sea anglerfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. The family contains about 22 species all in a single genus, ''Himantolophus'' ...

Hiodontidae Hiodontidae, commonly called mooneyes, is a family of ray-finned fish with a single included genus ''Hiodon''. The genus comprise two living species native to North America and three to five extinct species recorded from Paleocene to Eocene age ...

* Hispidoberycidae *

Holocentridae Holocentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only family of the order Holocentriformes. The members of the subfamily Holocentrinae are typically known as squirrelfish, while the members of Myripristinae typically are known as soldierfish.Lie ...

Hoplichthyidae ''Hoplichthys'', the ghost flatheads, is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This genus is the only member of the family Hoplichthyidae. Taxonomy Hoplichthys was first proposed as a monotypic genus in 18 ...

Hypopomidae The Hypopomidae are a family of fishes in the order Gymnotiformes known as the bluntnose knifefish. They may also be called grass or leaf knifefishes. These electric fish are not often eaten, of little commercial importance, rarely kept as aqu ...

Hypoptychidae The Korean sandlance (''Hypoptychus dybowskii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Hypoptychidae. The Korean sandlance is the only species in this Monotypic taxon, monotypic family and genus and is f ...

I

Icosteidae The ragfish (''Icosteus aenigmaticus'') is a ray-finned fish of the northern Pacific Ocean; although a perciform, its skeleton is mostly cartilage, and the larvae have pelvic fins that disappear as they mature. It is the sole member of the fam ...

Ictaluridae The Ictaluridae, sometimes called ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are an important food source and sometimes fished for sport. The family includes about 51 species, some commonly known as bullheads, madto ...

Indostomidae ''Indostomus'' is a genus of small Fish, fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family (biology), family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the orde ...

* Inermiidae *

Ipnopidae The Ipnopidae (deepsea tripod fishes) are a family of fishes in the order Aulopiformes. They are small, slender fishes, with maximum length ranging from about . They are found in temperate and tropical deep waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and ...

* Istiophoridae

K

Kneriidae The Kneriidae are a small family of freshwater gonorhynchiform fishes native to Africa. They typically live in fast-flowing highland streams, and are small fish, no more than in length. Some species are sexually dimorphic, with the male posses ...

Kraemeriidae The sand darters, were formerly considered to be a family the Kraemeriidae, but recent research has placed the nine species formerly classified under the Kraemeriidae as belonging to the family Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define th ...

Kuhliidae The flagtails (' or ' in the Hawaiian language) are a family (Kuhliidae) of perciform fish of the Indo-Pacific area. The family consists of several species in one genus, ''Kuhlia''. Most are euryhaline and often found in brackish water, but th ...

Kurtidae ''Kurtus'' is a genus of percomorph fishes, called the nurseryfishes, forehead brooders, or incubator fish, native to fresh, brackish and coastal marine waters ranging from India, through southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia. ''Ku ...

Kyphosidae The sea chubs, also known as rudderfish and pilot fish and in Hawaiian as ''enenue'' or ''nenue'', are a family, Kyphosidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans usually close to shore in marine w ...

L

La-Li - Lo-Lu ----

La-Li

* Labridae * Labrisomidae * Lactariidae *

Lamnidae The Lamnidae are the family of mackerel sharks known as white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming predatory fish found in oceans worldwide, though prefer environments with colder water. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word ''lam ...

Lampridae Opahs, also commonly known as moonfish, sunfish (not to be confused with Molidae), kingfish, redfin ocean pan are large, colorful, deep-bodied pelagic lampriform fishes comprising the small family Lampridae (also spelled Lamprididae). The fami ...

Latimeriidae Latimeriidae is the only extant family of coelacanths, an ancient lineage of lobe-finned fish. It contains two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'', found in deep waters off the coasts of southern Africa and east-central Indonesia. In additio ...

Latridae Latridae commonly called trumpeters, is a family of marine ray-finned fish. They are found in temperate seas in the Southern Hemisphere. The classification of the species within the Latridae and the related Cheilodactylidae is unclear.They a ...

* Lebiasinidae *

Leiognathidae Leiognathidae, the ponyfishes, slipmouths or slimys / slimies, are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They inhabit marine and brackish waters in the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. They can be used in the preparation of ''bagoong' ...

* Lepidogalaxiidae *

Lepidosirenidae Lepidosirenidae is a family of lungfish containing the genera ''Lepidosiren'' (the South American lungfish) and ''Protopterus'' (the African lungfish). Both genera were formerly thought to represent the distinct families Lepidosirenidae and Proto ...

Lepisosteidae Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...

Leptobramidae ''Leptobrama'' is a genus of fish in the family Leptobramidae found in the Pacific Ocean. This genus is the only member of its family. Species There are currently 2 recognized species in this genus: * ''Leptobrama muelleri ''Leptobrama muell ...

Leptochariidae The barbeled houndshark (''Leptocharias smithii'') is a species of ground shark and the only member of the family Leptochariidae. This demersal species is found in the coastal waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Mauritania to Angola, at de ...

Leptochilichthyidae ''Leptochilichthys'' is a genus of marine smelts containing four species. ''Leptochilichthys'' is the only genus in the former family Leptochilichthyidae but is now included within the broader family Alepocephalidae.R. Betancur-Rodriguez, E. Wi ...

* Leptoscopidae * Lethrinidae * Linophrynidae *

Liparidae The Liparidae, commonly known as snailfish or sea snails, are a family of marine scorpaeniform fishes. Widely distributed from the Arctic to Antarctic Oceans, including the oceans in between, the snailfish family contains more than 30 genera ...

Lo-Lu

* Lobotidae * Lophichthyidae * Lophiidae *

Lophotidae Crestfishes, family Lophotidae, are lampriform fishes found in most oceans. It consists of two extant and four extinct genera. They are elongated, ribbon-like fishes, silver in color, found in deep tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Their ...

Loricariidae The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...

Lotidae The Lotidae are a family of cod-like fishes commonly known as lings or rocklings. They are found in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Except for a few species of ''Gaidropsarus'', all are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. All specie ...

Luciocephalidae ''Luciocephalus pulcher'', the pikehead, giant pikehead or crocodile pikehead, is a species of gourami native to the Malaya Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It is a yellowish-brown fish with dark brown longitudinal bands and stripes, and can reac ...

Lutjanidae Lutjanidae, or snappers are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine, but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in fresh water. The family includes about 113 species. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapp ...

* Luvaridae

M

Ma-Mi - Mo-My ----

Ma-Mi

Macrouridae Macrouridae is a family of deep sea fish, a diverse and ecologically important group, which are part of the order of cod-like fish, the Gadiformes. The species in the Macrouridae are characterised by their large heads which normally have a singl ...

Malacanthidae 250px, Blue blanquillo, ''Malacanthus latovittatus'' Tilefishes are mostly small perciform marine fish comprising the family Malacanthidae. They are usually found in sandy areas, especially near coral reefs. Commercial fisheries exist for th ...

Malapteruridae Electric catfish or Malapteruridae is a Family (biology), family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). This family includes two genus, genera, ''Malapterurus'' and ''Paradoxoglanis'', with 21 species. Several species of this family have the ability ...

Mastacembelidae The Mastacembelidae are a family of fishes, known as the spiny eels. The Mastacembelids are part of the Order Synbranchiformes, the swamp eels, which are part of the Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). In an evaluation of the family in 2004, the ...

Megachasmidae ''Megachasma'' is a genus of sharks. It is usually considered to be the sole genus in the distinct family Megachasmidae, though suggestion has been made that it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae, of which the basking shark is currently the s ...

* Megalomycteridae *

Megalopidae Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Species and ...

Melamphaidae Ridgeheads, also known as bigscales, are a family (Melamphaidae, from the Greek ''melanos'' lackand ''amphi'' y both sides of small, deep-sea stephanoberyciform fish. The family contains approximately 37 species in five genera; their distributi ...

Melanocetidae Black seadevils are small, deepsea lophiiform fishes of the family Melanocetidae. The five known species (with only two given common names) are all within the genus ''Melanocetus''. They are found in tropical to temperate waters of the Atlantic, ...

Melanonidae ''Melanonus'' is a genus of gadiform fishes containing just two species of cod-like marine fishes. This is the only genus in the family Melanonidae. Both species are small fish, no more than in length, and are black in colour. They live in t ...

Melanotaeniidae The rainbowfish or Melanotaeniidae is a family of small, colourful freshwater fish found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea (including islands in Cenderawasih Bay and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia), Sulawesi and Madagascar. The lar ...

Menidae The moonfish of the genus ''Mene'', the sole extant genus of the family Menidae, are disk-shaped fish which bear a vague resemblance to gourami, thanks to their thread-like pelvic fins. Today, the genus is represented only by ''Mene maculata'' ...

Merlucciidae The Merlucciidae, commonly called merluccid hakes , are a family of cod-like fish, including most hakes. available for download at http://www.fao.org They are native to cold water in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and typically are found at de ...

Microdesmidae The Microdesmidae, the wormfishes and dartfishes, were a family of goby-like fishes in the order Gobiiformes, more recent workers have placed this taxon within the Gobiidae, although the researchers do not define the taxonomic status of this grou ...

Microstomatidae The Microstomatidae (pencil smelts) are a family of marine smelts native to the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in t ...

* Mirapinnidae *

Mitsukurinidae Mitsukurinidae is a family of sharks with one living genus, '' Mitsukurina'', and four fossil genera: ''Anomotodon'', '' Protoscapanorhynchus'', ''Scapanorhynchus'', and '' Woellsteinia'', though some taxonomists consider ''Scapanorhynchus'' to ...

Mo-My

Mochokidae The Mochokidae are a family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes) that are known as the squeakers and upside-down catfish (although not all species swim upside-down). There are nine genera and about 200 species of mochokids. All the mochokids are fr ...

Molidae The Molidae comprise the family of the molas or ocean sunfishes, unusual fish whose bodies come to an end just behind the dorsal and anal fins, giving them a "half-fish" appearance. They are also the largest of the ray-finned bony fish, with the ...

* Monacanthidae *

Monocentridae Pinecone fishes are small and unusual marine fish of the family ''Monocentridae''. The family contains just four species in two genera, one of which is monotypic. Their distribution is limited to tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pac ...

Monodactylidae Monodactylidae is a family of perciform bony fish commonly referred to as monos, moonyfishes or fingerfishes. All are strongly laterally compressed with disc-shaped bodies and tall anal and dorsal fins. Unusually for fish, scales occur on their ...

Monognathidae ''Monognathus'', or onejaw, is the only genus of the family Monognathidae of deep-sea eels. The name comes from the Greek ''monos'' meaning “one” and ''gnathos'' meaning “jaw”, a reference to the large mouth in comparison with the rest ...

Moridae The Moridae are a family of cod-like fishes, known as codlings, hakelings, and moras. Morids are marine fishes found throughout the world, and may be found at depths to , although most prefer shallower waters. In appearance, they greatly resembl ...

Moringuidae The Moringuidae are a small family of eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the e ...

Mormyridae The Mormyridae, sometimes called "elephantfish" (more properly freshwater elephantfish), are a Mormyridae (superfamily) , family of Electric fish , weakly electric freshwater fish in the order Osteoglossiformes native to Africa. It is by far the ...

Moronidae The Moronidae are a family of perciform fishes, commonly called the temperate basses, consisting of at least six freshwater, brackish water, and marine species. Many members of this family are anadromous. Description These fishes reach 45 cm to o ...

Mugilidae The mullets or grey mullets are a family (Mugilidae) of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since R ...

Mullidae The goatfishes are perciform fish of the family Mullidae. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus ''Mullus''. The family name and the English common name mullet derived from Lati ...

Muraenesocidae The Muraenesocidae, or pike congers, are a small family of marine eels found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. Some species are known to enter brackish water. Pike congers have cylindrical bodies, scaleless skin, narrow heads with large ...

Muraenidae Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are f ...

Muraenolepididae The Muraenolepididae is a family of cod-like fish, known as eel cods, found in southern oceans. References Gadiformes {{Gadiformes-stub ...

* Myctophidae * Myliobatidae *

Myrocongridae ''Myroconger'' is the only genus of eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the ear ...

* Myxinidae

N

Nandidae Nandidae, the leaffish, are a family of small freshwater fishes which some authorities classify in the order Anabantiformes, but which the 5th edition of '' Fishes of the World'' classifies the family and the related Badidae and Pristolepididae ...

Narcinidae Narcinidae, or numbfishes, are a family of electric rays (order Torpediniformes). They are bottom-dwelling cartilaginous fishes with large, rounded pectoral fin discs and long tails. They can produce an electric discharge for defense, from whic ...

Nematistiidae The roosterfish, ''Nematistius pectoralis'', is a game fish found in the warmer waters of the East Pacific from Baja California to Peru. It is the only species in the genus ''Nematistius'' and the family Nematistiidae. It is distinguished by its ...

* Nematogenyidae *

Nemichthyidae Snipe eels are a family, Nemichthyidae, of eels that consists of nine species in three genera. They are pelagic fishes, found in every ocean, mostly at depths of but sometimes as deep as . Depending on the species, adults may reach in length, y ...

Nemipteridae Nemipteridae are a family of fishes within the order Perciformes. They are known as threadfin breams, whiptail breams and false snappers. They are found in tropical waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Most species are benthic carni ...

* Neoceratiidae *

Neoscopelidae The Neoscopelidae (blackchins or neoscopelids) are a small family of deep-sea fish closely related to the lanternfish. They are found in tropical and subtropical marine waters worldwide. They can be distinguished from the lanternfish only by a f ...

Neosebastidae Neosebastinae, the gurnard scorpionfishes or gurnard perches, is a small subfamily of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, it is part of the family Scorpaenidae. These fishes are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Several of the species in this fami ...

Nettastomatidae Nettastomatidae, the duckbill eels or witch eels are a family of eels. The name is from Greek ''netta'' meaning "duck" and ''stoma'' meaning "mouth". Duckbill eels are found along the continental slopes of tropical and temperate oceans worldwid ...

* Nomeidae * Normanichthyidae *

Notacanthidae Notacanthidae, the deep-sea spiny eels, are a family of fishes found worldwide below , and as deep as . The earliest known spiny eel is ''Pronotacanthus sahelalmae'', from the Santonian of what is now Lebanon. Their bodies are greatly elongated ...

Notocheiridae The surf silverside (''Notocheirus hubbsi'') is a species of Silverside (fish), silverside from the Order (biology), order Atheriniformes found along the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of Argentina and Chile. It is the only known member of its Fam ...

Notograptidae ''Notograptus'' is a genus of marine fish in subclass Actinopterygii and order Perciformes. They are sometimes placed in a family of their own, Notograptidae, or may instead be included in the family Plesiopidae. ''Notograptus'' supposedly bears ...

Notopteridae The family Notopteridae contains 10 species of osteoglossiform (bony-tongued) fishes, commonly known as featherbacks and knifefishes. These fishes live in freshwater or brackish environments in Africa and South and Southeast Asia. With the denot ...

* Notosudidae *

Nototheniidae : ''In some scientific literature, the term "cod icefish" is used to identify members of this family. This should not be confused with the term "icefish," which refers to the "white-blooded" fishes of the family Channichthyidae. See Icefish (disam ...

O

Odacidae The Odacidae are a small family of ray-finned fishes formerly classified within the order Perciformes, commonly known as cales, and weed whitings. They are related to the much larger families of the wrasses and parrotfish. More recent workers ha ...

* Odontaspididae *

Odontobutidae Freshwater sleepers are a small family, the Odontobutidae, of gobiiform fishes native to freshwater rivers flowing into the South China Sea and the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The family consists of about 22 species in six genera. Genera The ...

Ogcocephalidae Ogcocephalidae is a family of anglerfish specifically adapted for a benthic lifestyle of crawling about on the seafloor. Ogcocephalid anglerfish are sometimes referred to as batfishes,Olyridae * Omosudidae *

Oneirodidae The dreamers are a family, Oneirodidae, of deep-sea anglerfishes in the order Lophiiformes. They are the largest and most diverse group of deep-sea anglerfish, and also the least well known with 16 genera represented by only one, two, or three f ...

Ophichthidae Ophichthidae is a family of fish in the order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels are also burrowing eels. They are named for thei ...

Ophidiidae The cusk-eel family, Ophidiidae, is a group of marine bony fishes in the Ophidiiformes order. The scientific name is from the Greek ''ophis'' meaning "snake", and refers to their eel-like appearance. True eels, however, diverged from other ray ...

Opisthoproctidae Barreleyes, also known as spook fish (a name also applied to several species of chimaera), are small deep-sea argentiniform fish comprising the family Opisthoproctidae found in tropical-to-temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian ...

Opistognathidae Opistognathidae, the jawfishes, are a family of fishes which have been classified within the order Perciformes, suborder Percoidei but many authorities now classify this family within the clade Ovalentaria and consider that its affinities within ...

Oplegnathidae ''Oplegnathus'' is currently the sole recognized genus in the knifejaw family (Oplegnathidae) of marine perciform fishes. The largest, the Cape knifejaw, can reach a maximum length around 90 cm (35 in). Knifejaws have teeth fused into ...

* Orectolobidae *

Oreosomatidae Oreosomatidae, the oreos, are a family of marine fish. Most species are found in the Southern Hemisphere, inhabiting continental slopes down to about deep. Most of then are 43 cm at most, with the largest species reaching a length of 60&nbs ...

Osmeridae Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts ...

* Osphronemidae *

Osteoglossidae Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that origina ...

Ostraciidae Ostraciidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. It contai ...

* Ostracoberycidae * Oxynotidae

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Pa-Pe - Ph-Pl - Po-Pr - Ps-Pt ----

Pa-Pe

* Pangasiidae *

Pantodontidae Pantodontidae is a family of ray-finned fish in the order Osteoglossiformes. It contains the living freshwater butterflyfish (''Pantodon buchholzi'') of Africa, as well as five extinct species from the Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian) of Lebanon. ...

* Parabembridae *

Parabrotulidae The Parabrotulidae, the false brotulas, are a small family of bathypelagic cusk eels that currently contains two genera. The species in this family are known from the northwest Pacific Ocean and the northeast Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic ...

Parakysidae The stream catfishes comprise the family Akysidae of catfishes. Distribution and habitat Akysids are known from across a large area in Southeast Asia. They are found in fresh water. Fish of the subfamily Parakysinae are primarily found in the Mal ...

moved to Akysidae *

Paralepididae Barracudinas are any member of the marine mesopelagic fish family Paralepididae: 50 or so extant species are found almost worldwide in deep waters. Several genera are known only from fossils dating back to the Ypresian epoch. The generic name ...

Paralichthyidae Large-tooth flounders or sand flounders are a family, Paralichthyidae, of flounders. The family contains 14 genera with a total of about 110 species. They lie on the sea bed on their right side; both eyes are always on the left side of the head, ...

* Parascorpididae *

Parascylliidae The Parascylliidae, or collared carpet sharks, are a family of sharks only found in shallow waters of the western Pacific. They are relatively small sharks, with the largest species reaching no more than 91.0 cm in adult length. They have elonga ...

* Paraulopidae *

Parazenidae Parazenidae is a family (biology), family of zeiform fishes found in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. References

Zeiformes Ray-finned fish families {{Zeiformes-stub ...

Parodontidae The Parodontidae are a family of fresh water fish of the order Characiformes. The three genera include about 32 species, though several are undescribed. These fish are generally benthic and live in mountain streams of eastern Panama and South Am ...

Pataecidae The Australian prowfishes are a small family, the Pataecidae, of ray-finned fishes classified within the order Scorpaeniformes. Australian prowfishes are distinguished by a long dorsal fin that begins far forward on the head, forming a "prow" s ...

Pegasidae The seamoths make up a family of fishes, the Pegasidae, within the order Syngnathiformes. They are named for Pegasus, a creature from Greek mythology. Seamoths are notable for their unusual appearance, including flattened bodies, the presence of ...

Pempheridae Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xan ...

Pentacerotidae Pentacerotidae or armourheads are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They are native to the Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific, and southwestern Atlantic. They are generally found at rocky reefs below normal scuba diving d ...

Percichthyidae The members of the family Percichthyidae are known as the temperate perches. They belong to the order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes. The name Percichthyidae derives from the Latin ''perca'' for perch and Ancient Greek ἰχθύς, ''ichthy ...

Percidae The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains more than ...

Perciliidae ''Percilia'' is a genus of perch-like fish in the monogeneric family Perciliidae. Species The genus ''Percilia'' currently contains these two species which are endemic to Chile: * ''Percilia gillissi'' Girard, 1855 * ''Percilia irwini'' Eigenma ...

Percophidae The Percophidae, duckbills, are a family of percomorph fishes, from the order Trachiniformes, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and in the southwestern and southeastern Pacific. They are small fishes: the ...

Percopsidae Percopsidae is a family of fish in the order Percopsiformes, with one extant genus with two species, both endemic to North America, and two known fossil genera. They are small fish with weak fin spines, and an adipose fin similar to those of ...

Peristediidae Peristediidae, the armored sea robins or armoured gurnards, is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Platycephaloidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the deep water in the tropical and warm temperate of the wor ...

Petromyzontidae The northern lampreys (Petromyzontidae) are a family of lampreys. Northern lampreys have the highest number of chromosomes (164–174) among vertebrates. Genera * '' Caspiomyzon'' * '' Entosphenus'' * ''Eudontomyzon'' * ''Ichthyomyzon'' * ''La ...

Ph-Pl

Phallostethidae Phallostethidae, also known as the priapium fish, is a family of atheriniform fish native to freshwater and brackish habitats in southeast Asia. They are small, no more than in length, with partially translucent bodies. They are found in fresh ...

Pholidae ''Pholidae'' is a family of marine ray-finned fishes, known as gunnels, in the scorpaeniform suborder Zoarcoidei. These are fishes of the littoral zone and are mainly found in North Pacific Ocean, with two species found in the North Atlantic Ocea ...

Pholidichthyidae ''Pholidichthys'' is a genus of ray-finned fish which consists of two species of the tropical Pacific Ocean. It is the only genus in the family Pholidichthyidae, one of two families in the order Cichliformes. Species The following two species ...

Phosichthyidae Lightfishes are small stomiiform fishes in the family Phosichthyidae The earliest fossils of lightfishes are from Oligocene-aged Paratethyan marine strata in the Czech Republic. They are very small fishes found in oceans throughout the world: ...

Phractolaemidae The hingemouth (''Phractolaemus ansorgii'') is a small freshwater fish that is found only in west central Africa, the sole member of the subfamily Phractolaeminae of the family Kneriidae. The mouth can extend like a small trunk, thus the name, a ...

Phycidae The Phycidae are a family of hakes in the order Gadiformes. They are native to the Atlantic Ocean, but the juveniles of some species enter estuaries. Sometimes this family is classified as the subfamily Phycinae of the cod family, Gadidae The ...

Pimelodidae The Pimelodidae, commonly known as the long-whiskered catfishes, are a family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes). Taxonomy The family Pimelodidae has undergone much revision. Currently, it contains about 30 genera and about 90 recognized and kno ...

Pinguipedidae The sandperches are a family, Pinguipedidae, of fishes in the percomorph order Trachiniformes. Sandperches are benthic fish which normally occur over sand or rubble substrates in shallow seas. They are found off the coasts of South America, ...

* Platycephalidae *

Platytroctidae The tubeshoulders are a family, Platytroctidae, of ray-finned fish belonging to the order Alepocephaliformes Alepocephaliformes is an order of ray-finned fish. It was previously classified as the suborder Alepocephaloidei of the order Argenti ...

Plecoglossidae The ayu sweetfish (''Plecoglossus altivelis''), or sweetfish, is a species of fish. It is the only species in the genus ''Plecoglossus'' and family Plecoglossidae. It is a relative of the smelts and other fish in the order Osmeriformes. Nativ ...

* Plectrogenidae *

Plesiobatidae The deepwater stingray or giant stingaree (''Plesiobatis daviesi'') is a species of stingray and the sole member of the family Plesiobatidae. It is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, typically over fine sediments on the upper continental ...

Plesiopidae The longfins, also known as roundheads or spiny basslets, are a family, Plesiopidae, which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Percomorpha. They ...

Pleuronectidae Pleuronectidae, also known as righteye flounders, are a family of flounders. They are called "righteye flounders" because most species lie on the sea bottom on their left sides, with both eyes on their right sides. The Paralichthyidae are the op ...

* Plotosidae

Po-Pr

Poeciliidae The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the family was t ...

Polycentridae Leaffishes are small fishes of the family Polycentridae. According to FishBase, it only includes the genera '' Monocirrhus'' and '' Polycentrus'' from fresh and brackish water in tropical South America. Although included in the Asian leaffish fa ...

Polymixiidae The beardfishes consist of a single extant genus, ''Polymixia'', of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbel (anatomy), barbels. They are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes . But as Nelson says, "few g ...

Polynemidae Threadfins are silvery grey perciform fish of the family Polynemidae. Found in tropical to subtropical waters throughout the world, the threadfin family contains eight genera and about 40 species. An unrelated species sometimes known by the name ...

Polyodontidae Paddlefish (family Polyodontidae) are a family of ray-finned fish belonging to order Acipenseriformes, and one of two living groups of the order alongside sturgeons (Acipenseridae). They are distinguished from other fish by their titular elongla ...

Polyprionidae The wreckfish are a family, Polyprionidae in the suborder Percoidei of the order Perciformes. They are deep-water marine fish and can be found on the ocean bottom, where they inhabit caves and shipwrecks (thus their common name). Their scienti ...

Polypteridae Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pub ...

Pomacanthidae Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confu ...

Pomacentridae Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Perco ...

* Pomatomidae *

Potamotrygonidae River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family (biology), family Potamotrygonidae in the Order (biology), order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of Batoidea, batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to ...

Priacanthidae The Priacanthidae, the bigeyes, are a family of 18 species of marine ray-finned fishes. " Catalufa" is an alternate common name for some members of the Priacanthidae. The etymology of the scientific name (, to bite + , thorn) refers to the fam ...

Pristidae Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish ...

* Pristiophoridae *

Prochilodontidae The Prochilodontidae, or flannel-mouthed characins, are a small family of freshwater fishes found primarily in the northern half of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. This family is closely related to the Curimatidae, and in ...

* Profundulidae *

Proscylliidae The finback catsharks are a small family, the Proscylliidae, of ground sharks. They can be found in warm seas worldwide and are often the most numerous and common shark in tropical regions. They are generally less than 1 m in length, and are slow ...

Protopteridae ''Protopterus'' is the genus of four species of lungfish found in Africa. ''Protopterus'' was formerly thought to be the sole genus in the family Protopteridae, but more recent studies have classified it with ''Lepidosiren'' in the family Lepid ...

Ps-Pt

Psettodidae The spiny turbots are a family, Psettodidae, of relatively large, primitive flatfish found in the tropical waters of the east Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. The family contains just three species, all in the same genus, ''Psettodes''. The common n ...

Pseudaphritidae The congoli (''Pseudaphritis urvillii''), also known as the freshwater flathead, marble fish, marbled flathead, sand trout, sanding, sandy, sandy whiting or tupong. is a species of marine ray-finned fish and it is the only species of fish in t ...

* Pseudocarchariidae * Pseudochromidae *

Pseudomugilidae The Pseudomugilidae, the blue-eyes, are a subfamily of atheriniform fish in the rainbowfish family Melanotaeniidae. They inhabit fresh and brackish water in Australia, New Guinea and nearby smaller islands. Blue-eyes are small fish, typically ...

Pseudopimelodidae The Pseudopimelodidae are a small family (about 40 species) of catfishes known as the bumblebee catfishes or dwarf marbled catfishes. Some of these fish are popular aquarium fish. Taxonomy This family was formerly a subfamily of Pimelodidae. Pse ...

Pseudotriakidae The Pseudotriakidae are a small family of ground sharks, belonging to the order Carcharhiniformes, containing the false catsharks (genera '' Pseudotriakis'' and '' Planonasus'') and gollumsharks (genus ''Gollum''). It contains the only ground s ...

Pseudotrichonotidae ''Pseudotrichonotus'' is a genus of fish in the family Pseudotrichonotidae native to the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean. This genus is the only member of its family (biology), family. Species There are currently 4 recognized species in t ...

Psilorhynchidae ''Psilorhynchus'' is a genus of fish in the family ''Psilorhynchidae'' native to South Asia. This genus is the only member of its family. The members of ''Psilorhynchus'' are small benthic fishes which occur in rivers and streams with fast to swi ...

Psychrolutidae The fish family Psychrolutidae (commonly known as blobfishes, toadfishes, flathead sculpins, tadpole sculpins,) contains over 35 recognized species in 8 genera. This family consists of bottom-dwelling marine sculpins shaped like tadpoles, with l ...

Ptereleotridae Dartfishes are a group of fish, formerly considered to be a subfamily, Ptereleotrinae, of goby-like fishes in the family Microdesmidae of the order Gobiiformes, Authorities now consider the species in the family Microdesmidae are within the Gob ...

* Ptilichthyidae

R

Rachycentridae ''Rachycentron'' is the only known member genus of the family Rachycentridae. The genus contains a single living species, the cobia (''Rachycentron canadum''), and the Late Miocene fossil species ''Rachycentron stremphaencus'' from Maryland. Refe ...

* Radiicephalidae * Rajidae *

Regalecidae Oarfish are huge, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family (biology), family Regalecidae. Found in areas spanning from Temperate climate, temperate ocean zones to tropical ones, yet rarely seen, the oarfish famil ...

Retropinnidae The Retropinnidae are a family of bony fishes that contains the Southern Hemisphere smelts and graylings. They are closely related to the northern smelts (Osmeridae), which they greatly resemble, but not to the northern graylings (''Thymallus'') ...

Rhamphichthyidae Sand knifefish are freshwater electric fish of the family Rhamphichthyidae, from freshwater habitats in South America. Just like most part of the members of the Gymnotiformes group, they also have elongated and compressed bodies and electric o ...

Rhamphocottidae Rhamphocottidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. The species in this family occur in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Rhamphocottidae was first proposed as a family by the American ichthyo ...

Rhincodontidae The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, Do ...

* Rhinobatidae *

Rhinochimaeridae The Rhinochimaeridae, commonly known as long-nosed chimaeras, are a family (biology), family of cartilaginous fish. They are similar in form and habits to other chimaeras, but have an exceptionally long conical or paddle-shaped snout. The snout h ...

Rhyacichthyidae The Rhyacichthyidae or loach gobies are a small family of perciform fish in two genera. The three species all inhabit rivers and streams, often with fast flow. ''R. aspro'' is widespread in Western Pacific region (China and Japan to New Guinea ...

Rivulidae The Rivulidae are a family of killifishes in the order Cyprinodontiformes. They are commonly known as rivulids, South American killifish or New World killifish. The latter names are slightly misleading, however, as they are neither restricted to ...

Rondeletiidae The redmouth whalefishes are two species of deep-sea whalefishes in the genus ''Rondeletia'', the only genus in the family Rondeletiidae. They are apparently close to the velvet whalefish (''Barbourisia rufa''), and apparently also to the gibb ...

S

Sa-Sc - Se-St - Su-Sy ----

Sa-Sc

Saccopharyngidae ''Saccopharynx'' is a genus of deep-sea eels with large mouths, distensible stomachs and long, scaleless bodies. Commonly, these fish are called gulpers or gulper eels. It is the only genus in the family Saccopharyngidae, and is part of the deriv ...

Salangidae Salangidae, the icefishes or noodlefishes, are a family of small osmeriform fish, related to the smelts. They are found in Eastern Asia, ranging from the Russian Far East in the north to Vietnam in the south, with the highest species richness in ...

Salmonidae Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...

Samaridae Samaridae (''Samariscus corallines'') is a family of crested flounders, small flatfishes native to the Indo-Pacific. The family contains four genera with a total of 29 species. Taxonomy Samaridae is one of eight families a part of the SuperFa ...

* Scaridae *

Scatophagidae Scatophagidae, the scats are a small family of ray-finned fishes in the order Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the ...

Schilbeidae Schilbeidae is a family of catfishes native to Africa and Asia. These fish tend to swim in open water. Schilbid catfishes usually have dorsal fins with a short base and a spine, but ''Parailia'' lack a dorsal fin altogether. Most species also po ...

Schindleriidae ''Schindleria'' is a genus of marine fish. It was the only genus of family Schindleriidae, among the Gobioidei of order Perciformes but is now classified under the Gobiidae in the Gobiiformes. The type species is ''S. praematura'', Schindler's ...

Sciaenidae Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gen ...

Scoloplacidae ''Scoloplax'' is the only genus in the catfish (order Siluriformes) family Scoloplacidae, the spiny dwarf catfishes. Species The six currently recognized species in this genus are: * ''Scoloplax baileyi'' Rocha, Lazzarotto & Rapp Py-Daniel, ...

Scomberesocidae Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the ''scomber'', which in turn is derived from the Greek ''skombros'', meaning "mackerel", and the Latin ...

Scombridae The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterfly ...

Scombrolabracidae The longfin escolar, ''Scombrolabrax heterolepis'', also known as the black mackerel, is a widespread but uncommon deep sea fish that presents some difficulties for Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It is placed in its own family Scombrolabracidae, ...

Scombropidae The gnomefishes form a small family, Scombropidae, consisting of three extant species of marine fish in the genus ''Scombrops''. They have two dorsal fins and are notable for scales covering the soft parts of the dorsal and anal fins. The eyes ...

* Scopelarchidae *

Scophthalmidae The Scophthalmidae are a family of flatfish found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.Chanet, B. (2003)Interrelationships of scophthalmid fishes (Pleuronectiformes: Scopththalmidae).''Cybium'' 27(4) 275-86. F ...

Scorpaenidae The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

* Scyliorhinidae * Scytalinidae

Se-St

Sebastidae Sebastinae is a subfamily of marine fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae in the order Scorpaeniformes. Their common names include rockfishes, rock perches, ocean perches, sea perches, thornyheads, scorpionfishes, sea ruffes and rockcods. D ...

Serranidae The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some case ...

Serrasalmidae The Serrasalmidae (serrasalmids) are a family of characiform fishes, recently elevated to family status. It includes more than 90 species. The name means "serrated salmon family", which refers to the serrated keel running along the belly of these ...

Serrivomeridae Sawtooth eels are a family, Serrivomeridae, of eels found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide. Sawtooth eels get their name from the human-like arrangement of inward-slanting teeth attached to the vomer bone in the roof of the mouth. They ...

Setarchidae Setarchinae, the deep-sea bristly scorpionfishes, is a small subfamily of deep-sea ray-finned fishes, it is part of the family Scorpaenidae. They are small marine fishes, growing up to 25 cm, and are found in tropical and subtropical waters ...

Siganidae Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, ''Siganus''. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces– ...

Sillaginidae The Sillaginidae, commonly known as the smelt-whitings, whitings, sillaginids, sand borers and sand-smelts, are a family of benthic coastal marine fish in the order Perciformes. The smelt-whitings inhabit a wide region covering much of the Indo ...

Siluridae Siluridae is the nominate family of catfishes in the order Siluriformes. About 105 living species of silurids are placed in 12 or 14 genera. Although silurids occur across much of Europe and Asia, they are most diverse in Southeast Asia, beyond ...

Sisoridae Sisoridae is a family of catfishes. These Asian catfishes live in fast-moving waters and often have adaptations that allow them to adhere to objects in their habitats. The family includes about 235 species. Taxonomy The family Sisoridae is recog ...

Soleidae The true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes. It includes saltwater and brackish water species in the East Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and West and Central Pacific Ocean. Freshwater species are found in Africa, southern Asia, New Guinea, an ...

Solenostomidae ''Solenostomus'', also known as the ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes or tubemouth fishes, is a genus of fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. ''Solenostomus'' is the only genus in the family Solenostomidae, and includes six currently recognized ...

Sparidae The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a ...

Sphyraenidae A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

* Sphyrnidae *

Squalidae Squalidae, more commonly known as dogfish, dog sharks, or spiny dogfish, are one of several families of sharks categorized under Squaliformes, making it the second largest order of sharks, numbering 119 species across 7 families. Having earned t ...

* Squatinidae *

Stegostomatidae The zebra shark (''Stegostoma tigrinum'') is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of . Adult zebra sharks ...

* Stephanoberycidae *

Sternoptychidae The marine hatchetfishes or deep-sea hatchetfishes as well as the related bottlelights, pearlsides and constellationfishes are small deep-sea ray-finned fish of the stomiiform family Sternoptychidae. They are not closely related to and should not ...

* Sternopygidae * Stichaeidae *

Stomiidae Stomiidae is a family of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes. They are quite small, usually around 15 cm, up to 26 cm. These fish are apex predators and have enormous jaws filled with fang-like teeth. They are ...

Stromateidae The family Stromateidae or butterfish contains 15 species of fish in three genera. Butterfishes live in coastal waters off the Americas, western Africa and in the Indo-Pacific. The endemic New Zealand species '' Odax pullus'' is commonly called b ...

* Stylephoridae

Su-Sy

Sundasalangidae ''Sundasalanx'', the Sundaland noodlefishes, is the only genus in the family Sundasalangidae, which belongs to the same order as the herrings and their relatives. This family of extremely small fishes is restricted to freshwater environments of ...

* Symphysanodontidae *

Synanceiidae Synanceiinae is a subfamily of venomous ray-finned fishes, waspfishes, which is classified as part of the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes and their relatives. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific oceans. They are primarily marin ...

Synaphobranchidae Cutthroat eels are a family, Synaphobranchidae, of eels, the only members of the suborder Synaphobranchoidei. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical seas. Cutthroat eels range from in length. They are bottom-dwelling fish, found in ...

Synbranchidae The swamp eels (also written "swamp-eels") are a family (Synbranchidae) of freshwater eel-like fishes of the tropics and subtropics. Most species are able to breathe air and typically live in marshes, ponds and damp places, sometimes burying them ...

Syngnathidae The Syngnathidae is a family of fish which includes seahorses, pipefishes, and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and ''Phyllopteryx''). The name is derived from grc, σύν (), meaning "together", and (), meaning "jaw". The fused jaw is one of the tra ...

Synodontidae The Synodontidae or lizardfishes(or typical lizardfish to distinguish them from the Bathysauridae and Pseudotrichonotidae) are benthic (bottom-dwelling) marine and estuarine bony fishes that belong to the aulopiform fish order, a diverse group o ...

T

Telmatherinidae The Telmatherininae, the sail-fin silversides are a subfamily of Atheriniformes, atheriniform fish from the rainbowfish family, the Melanotaeniidae, inhabiting fresh and brackish water. All but the species ''Kalyptatherina helodes'' are restricte ...

Terapontidae Grunters or tigerperches are ray-finned fishes in the Family (biology), family Terapontidae (also spelled Teraponidae, Theraponidae or Therapontidae). This family is part of the Superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Percoidea of the Order (biology ...

Tetrabrachiidae Tetrabrachiidae, or the four-armed frogfishes, is a family of anglerfishes found in relatively shallow waters of the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean reaching from Indonesia and New Guinea to Australia Australia, officiall ...

* Tetragonuridae *

Tetraodontidae Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

* Tetrarogidae *

Thaumatichthyidae Thaumatichthyidae, the wolftrap anglers, is a small family of deep-sea anglerfishes, containing two genera and eight species found in all oceans. They are commonly known as wolftrap anglers or wolftrap seadevils because of their distinctive uppe ...

Torpedinidae The family Torpedinidae contains 22 species of electric rays or torpedoes, flat cartilaginous fishes that produce electricity as a defense and feeding mechanism. They are slow-moving bottom-dwellers. The largest species is the Atlantic torped ...

Toxotidae The archerfish (spinner fish or archer fish) form a monotypic family, Toxotidae, of fish known for their habit of preying on land-based insects and other small animals by shooting them down with water droplets from their specialized mouths. The ...

* Trachichthyidae * Trachinidae * Trachipteridae * Triacanthidae * Triacanthodidae * Triakidae * Trichiuridae *

Trichodontidae The Trichodontidae, or sandfishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes from the order Scorpaeniformes. The species in this family are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Trichodontidae was first proposed as a family in 1869 by the D ...

Trichomycteridae Trichomycteridae is a family of catfishes commonly known as pencil catfishes or parasitic catfishes. This family includes the candiru fish (''Vandellia cirrhosa''), feared by some people for its alleged habit of entering into the urethra of hum ...

Trichonotidae ''Trichonotus'' is a genus of marine gobiiform fishes. Species of ''Trichonotus'' are distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific. This genus is the only member of the family Trichonotidae. Description ''Trichonotus'' species have jutting lowe ...

Triglidae Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea robins, are a family of bottom-feeding scorpaeniform ray-finned fish. The gurnards are distributed in temperate and tropical seas worldwide. Taxonomy Triglidae was first described as a family in 181 ...

* Triodontidae * Tripterygiidae

U

Umbridae Umbridae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. The single living genus, ''Umbra'', occupies weed-choked freshwater habitats in eastern North America and eastern Europe. While the family trad ...

* Uranoscopidae *

Urolophidae The Urolophidae are a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly known as stingarees or round stingrays. This family formerly included the genera '' Urobatis'' and ''Urotrygon'' of the Americas, which are presently recognized as formin ...

V

Valenciidae ''Valencia'' is the only genus in the family Valenciidae. ''Valencia'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes. It is sometimes grouped into the family Cyprinodontidae. Members of this genus are restricted to southern Europe. Species There are curre ...

* Veliferidae

X

Xenisthmidae Collared wrigglers are perciform fishes in the family Xenisthmidae. They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where they are mostly reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath ...

Xiphiidae Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

Z

* Zanclidae * Zaniolepididae *

Zaproridae The prowfish (''Zaprora silenus'') is a species of Scorpaeniformes, scorpaeniform marine fish found in the northern Pacific Ocean. It is the only Extant taxon, extant member of the family, Zaproridae. Another species, ''Araeosteus rothi'', is k ...

Zeidae The Zeidae (named after Zeus, the supreme god of Greek mythology) are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish—the "true dories". Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, the family contains just six species in tw ...

Zenionidae Zeniontidae is a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish. Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just seven species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic r ...

Zoarcidae The eelpouts are the ray-finned fish family (biology), family Zoarcidae. As the common name suggests, they are somewhat eel-like in appearance. All of the roughly 300 species are ocean, marine and mostly bottom-dwelling, some at great depths. Eel ...

A