Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Fish

FEATURES


PHOTO Fish Using Counterillumination The fish at left stands out against the lighter waters above. At right the same fish—now with bioluminescent structures on its underside lit—blends in. Many deep sea creatures have evolved t...MORE PHOTOS


	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Anemonefish in their Host Anemone Two bright orange anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) poke their heads between an...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Uncovering Biodiversity Before It Disappears Editor's Note: See more information and details about the organisms displayed in...
	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Cardinalfish Dad with a Mouthful of Eggs Cardinalfish (Cheilodipterus sp.) dads do their part to protect their eggs by gi...

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH


					Scaly Dragonfish May 8, 2013 - 9:26AMThe long barbel on the chin of this dragonfish (Stomias boa) has a glowing tip that may attract prey. With its large mouth and sharp, curved teeth, the fish makes quick work of any prey that venture too close. Scaly dragonfish...

Seven New Fish Discovered

Apr 25, 2013 - 8:06AM

Starksia blennies, small fish with elongated bodies, generally native to...

A School of Hawaiian Squirrelfish

Apr 10, 2013 - 9:03AM

Check out the eyes on these Hawaiian squirrelfish (Sargocentron...

SPOTLIGHT


The Big Five of the Ocean: Exploring the Waters of East Africa A whale shark swims with a diver off the coast of Southern Mozambique. Photo: Caine Delacy. When we think "Africa," we think...

Sweetlips, Raja Ampat, Indonesia Mar 18 2013 - 8:38am The larger fish in this picture are called sweetlips (Plectorhinchus) because of their big, fleshy lips. There are over thirty species of sweetlips, which tend to live on coral reefs in small groups.	Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) Aug 22 2012 - 1:57pm The TOPP program brought together scientists from seven countries to explore the lives of large mid-water animals such as sea turtles, birds, whales, tuna, sharks, seals and even squids. Animals that live throughout the open ocean are often hard to track, and because of this difficulty, we know...
Cardinalfish Dad with a Mouthful of Eggs May 11 2012 - 3:17pm Cardinalfish (Cheilodipterus sp.) dads do their part to protect their eggs by gingerly carrying them in their mouths. However, the dads could easily swallow the whole bunch in one gulp! To keep her eggs alive, the cardinalfish mom will often lay a number of yolkless dummy eggs along with the real...	Pacific Hagfish Oct 17 2012 - 10:49am The Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii), a fish that looks similar to an eel, has no jaw and is totally blind. They find food, often dead fish, through a specialized sense of smell and, because they can absorb nutrients through their skin, can eat by just burrowing into a dead carcass.
A Baby Moray Eel, or a Really Small Adult? Aug 20 2012 - 10:42am This is an unidentified moray eel, collected from 650 feet off the coast of Curacao. Morays are very secretive animals that tend to stay hidden in caves and crevices. Researchers with the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) don't yet know if this is a young eel, or a small full-grown one.	Frogfish Histrio histrio Sep 19 2012 - 10:11am The Sargassum frogfish Histrio histrio (Antennariidae) is a small but voracious predator - it can ingest animals up to it’s own size! The fins of the frogfish are perfect for creeping around in the algae and stalking unsuspecting prey.
Reef Fish, French Frigate Shoals Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am Healthy coral reefs support a mindboggling array of life. Here, at Rapture Reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, colorful fishes throng the waters for as far as the eye can see.	Rough Going for Orange Roughy Jul 5 2011 - 2:33pm In the dark, cold waters 600 meters (nearly 2000 feet) below the ocean's surface, things happen slowly. Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), deep ocean fish that were once known as "slimeheads" because of the mucous-producing canals on their heads, grow and mature at a sluggish rate compared to...
Sargassum Frogfish May 21 2012 - 5:55pm The sargassum frogfish Histrio histrio (Antennariidae) is a small but voracious predator - it can ingest animals up to it’s own size! The fins of the frogfish are perfect for creeping around in the algae and stalking unsuspecting prey.	Eye to Eye With a Pygmy Seahorse Jan 6 2011 - 12:35pm One of the world’s smallest seahorses, the pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), is no bigger than your pinky finger. These tiny animals are masters of disguise, using a strategy of blending into their surrounding environment to survive.
Scientists Catalog Life on the Island of Moorea Oct 15 2012 - 1:44pm Welcome to Moorea, a tiny, isolated island in the middle of the vast Pacific. Moorea is 132 square kilometers (51 square miles) of tropical ecosystems – from jungle and wetlands to beaches and coral reefs – with no major landmasses for thousands of miles. While it may look like the perfect vacation...	Seafood for Thought Nov 18 2010 - 4:49pm Sunday, November 21 marks World Fisheries Day, an annual occasion observed in many fishing communities around the world. It’s a great opportunity—even for those of us who do not fish for a living—to pause and reflect on the importance of maintaining healthy fisheries.
Protected Pigfish and Mao-Mao School Mar 13 2013 - 7:21am Red Pigfish (Bodianus unimaculatus) and Blue Mao-Mao (Scorpis violacea) school at the edge of a cavern in New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands. Read photographer Brian Skerry's story behind this photo on the Ocean Portal blog.	Gobies on Coral, Near Marsa Alam, Egypt Mar 5 2013 - 10:26am Gobies make up the largest family (Gobiidae) of fishes in the world, with over 2,000 species. In this large family you can also find the smallest fish. The gobies in this photo are about one inch long (2.5 cm), and most in the family are less than four inches. Because of their small size gobies...
Cave Basslet Jul 5 2011 - 10:08am Smithsonian researchers collected a cave basslet (Liopropoma mowbrayi) from the deep reefs of Curaçao, in the southern Caribbean. They used a state-of-the-art submersible to obtain the specimen. The investigations are part of the Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP).	A School of Hawaiian Squirrelfish Apr 10 2013 - 9:03am Check out the eyes on these Hawaiian squirrelfish (Sargocentron xantherythrum)! Because squirrelfish are almost entirely nocturnal, they need big eyes to absorb as much moonlight and starlight as they can in the dark. During the day, they hide out in the nooks and crannies of tropical coral reefs....