FishDatabase

A field guide to fish

Explore the world of fish

Discover where fish live, how they are classified, and the waters they call home. Browse our US-focused species catalog and aquarium directory, built from trusted, open data and free to search.

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Find fish near you

Choose a state on the map, or browse the complete species guide.

Browse all 1,286 speciesFind fish by state
Species
1,286
Families
123
Photographs
6,096
Survey sites
35,918
Species recorded in each state. Point at a state to read its count; click it to open the state.
0
455
Species recorded in each state. Point at a state to read its count; click it to open the state.

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Fish by state

Every state and the District of Columbia. The count is the number of species with 2 or more US observation records there.

Photographs

Discover fish

Water

Fresh water, salt water, or both

The habitat flags come from the World Register of Marine Species. A species can carry two: a salmon lives in both.

Groups

Types of fish

All 55 groups

Widest range

Fish found in the most states

Bluegill49 states
Lepomis macrochirusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh
Black Crappie49 states
Pomoxis nigromaculatusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh
Largemouth Bass48 states
Micropterus salmoidesCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh
Yellow Bullhead48 states
Ameiurus natalisIctaluridaeNative and introducedFresh
Yellow Perch47 states
Perca flavescensPercidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish
Smallmouth Bass47 states
Micropterus dolomieuCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh
Channel Catfish47 states
Ictalurus punctatusIctaluridaeNative and introducedFresh
Golden Shiner47 states
Notemigonus crysoleucasLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish
Green Sunfish46 states
Lepomis cyanellusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh
Pumpkinseed46 states
Lepomis gibbosusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish
Fathead Minnow46 states
Pimephales promelasLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFresh
Black Bullhead46 states
Ameiurus melasIctaluridaeNative and introducedFresh

A–Z list of all 1,286 species

Movement

Migration

250 species have an explicit migratory assignment. The patterns come from the USGS North American Freshwater Migratory Fish Database. Pattern counts also include suspected and conflicting assignments, so a category can exceed that total and categories overlap.

Taxonomy

Largest families

All 123 families