Different Types of Fish

Fish live in water and it is their fins and body formation that allows them to negotiate the water currents. Some fish thrive in cold water while others need tropical conditions for their survival. The article that follows will list the different types of fish.

By Ashwini Ambekar

| Thursday, January 01, 2009

Fish are vertebrates which are animals with backbone and they survive in water with the help of gills that help them to breathe. Their body is streamlined to suit swimming in water. There are as many as 25000 different types of fish in the different water sources all around the world. These fascinating creatures are found in almost every water source and environment. E.g.: Even in Antarctic a fish type called icefish is found and this fish survives in the water that is below freezing point. These different types of fish can include jawless fish, body fish and cartilaginous fish. Bony and cartilaginous fish have jaws. The size of fish can range between 8 mm to 45 foot.

Different types of fish
Broadly fish may be classified into certain groups. These include tropical fish, coldwater fish, marine fish and freshwater fish.

Tropical Fish
These are the fish that live in either freshwater or saltwater but they need warm or tropical medium or temperature to thrive. Many types of tropical fish are popular aquarium fish because of their bright colors. The types of pet fish in tropical fish include wild caught specimens, single species that are individually born within captivity because of their peculiar features such as coloration or long fins and hybrids of multiple species.

Types of tropical fish include

Agassizi's dwarf cichlid
Adolfo's cory
Angelfish
Algae eater/Sucking loach
African Mudskipper
Armoured bichir
Asian arowana/Dragon fish
Archerfish
Blue acara
Bristle-nosed catfish
Black Ruby barb
Bi-coloured banjo
Black Widow tetra
Buenos aires tetra
Bleeding heart tetra
Cape Lopez Lyretail
Black Neon tetra
Common hatchet
Convict Julie
Convict cichlid
Chequered julie
Clown Knifefish
Bronze/Albino cory
Banded rainbow
Bumblebee cichlid
Black Ruby barb
Brown julie
Blue/Three-spot gourami
Cuckoo Synodontis
Clown Synodontis
Cherry barb
Dwarf Pencilfish
Dwarf/Pygmy Puffer
Dwarf gourami
Elephant nose
Common pleco
Cardinal tetra
Cockatoo cichlid
Clown loach
Cherry barb
Convict cichlid
Celestial Pearl Danio
Discus
Dwarf otocinclus
Freshwater barracuda
Port cichlid
Green terror
Knife Livebearer
Steel-Blue Aphyosemion
Panda dwarf cichlid
Macmaster's dwarf cichlid
Shark catfish
Oscar
Silver/Bala shark
Tinfoil barb
Rosy barb
Golden barb
Zebra/Candy-stripe loach
Siamese fighting fish/betta
Pakistan loach
Tiger barb
Pentazona barb
South American Puffer
Red-tailed Redeye puffer
Parrot cichlid
Panda cory
Spotted climbing perch
Pink-Tailed Chalceus
Zebra danio
Siamese algae eater
Three-line cory
Pike characin/slant nosed gar
Peppered cory
Pacu
Red Finned shark
Siamese/Silver Tigerfish
Rope fish/Reed fish
Red-tailed black shark
Glowlight tetra
Thin Bar Siamese Tigerfish
Siamese/Indonesian Tigerfish
New Guinea Tigerfish
Frontosa
Malawi Eye-Biter
Red Rainbow
Wide Bar Siamese Tigerfish
Flying fox
Rainbow cichlid
Zebra pleco
Wolf / Tiger fish
Shark catfish
Serpae tetra
Kissing gourami
Rummy-nosed tetra
Threadfin rainbow
Severum
Rusty cichlid
Red zebra
Paradise fish
Electric yellow lab
Sailfin marbled catfish
Golden julie
'Kenyi'
Malawi golden cichlid
Glass catfish
Red-Striped rainbow
Boeseman's rainbow
Western rainbow
Lake Kutubu rainbow
Red Eye tetra
Ram cichlid
Sebae Mono, Finger Mono
Mono, Malayan Angel
South American leaf fish
Silver dollar
Neon rainbow
Salvin's cichlid
Lemon cichlid
Jack Dempsey
Lyretail cichlid
Silver arowana
Otocinclus
Marbled Knifefish
Giant gourami
Giant red-fin gourami
Kribensis
Indian Mudskipper
Neon tetra
Red Pacu
Red-tailed catfish
Sailfin molly
Pictus catfish
Guppy
Marbled bichir
Ornate bichir
Poll's Bichir
Yellow-tailed acei
Senegal bichir
Powder Blue/Pindani
Red Line Torpedo barb
Pentazona barb
Rosy barb
Tiger barb
Golden barb
Harlequin Rasbora
Red Scissortail
Red-Bellied Piranha
Green Scat
White/Black Piranha
Red-Bellied Piranha
Silver prochilodus
Silver Scat
Green Spotted Puffer
Figure-eight puffer
Waterlot's Synodontis
Green Spotted Puffer
Giant Freshwater Puffer
Humpback Puffer
Firemouth
Nile/banded Puffer
Spotted Puffer
Large-scaled Archerfish
Pearl gourami
Harlequin Rasbora
Platy
Moonlight gourami
Swordtail

Coldwater Fish
These fish can be fresh water fish or salt fish and basically need colder water temperature. Typically these types of fish need temperature below 20 °C. Goldfish and koi are the most common types of fish in this variety. These fish tend to grow at a slower pace and also live longer than those that live in warm waters.

List of fish types in coldwater fish include