Africa
The Great Rift Lakes drive the African hobby — Malawi and Tanganyika host some of the most diverse cichlid radiations on Earth. West Africa and Madagascar add further biodiversity.
387 species · freshwater · fish
Fahaka Puffer
FishTetraodon lineatus
A large, aggressive African puffer that will bite the hand that feeds it. Literally.
Fairy Cichlid
FishNeolamprologus brichardi
A Lake Tanganyika cichlid that raises its young as a multigenerational family group.
False Astyanax Tetra
FishPhenacogrammus major
A peaceful Congo basin schooler that rewards keepers willing to do their homework.
Feather Back
FishPapyrocranus afer
A rare African giant with a striking undulating fin and a fierce attitude.
Featherfin
FishOphthalmotilapia ventralis
A Lake Tanganyika mouthbrooder with famously elaborate fin lure breeding tricks.
Featherfin Cichlid
FishCyathopharynx furcifer
A plankton-picking Tanganyikan with spectacular breeding craters and fin-tip lures.
Featherfin Squeaker
FishSynodontis euptera
A long-lived African catfish whose dramatic dorsal fin grows more impressive with age.
Fenestratus
FishProtomelas fenestratus
A peaceful Malawi cichlid with a clever trick for finding buried food.
Flameback Peacock
FishAulonocara stuartgranti
A Lake Malawi peacock that shifts color by geography, blue in the north, yellow in the south.
Flatnose Catfish
FishAnaspidoglanis macrostoma
A burrowing African catfish with a big appetite and bigger attitude toward tankmates.
Fly River Rainbowfish
FishMelanotaenia sexlineata
A rarely seen rainbowfish from Papua New Guinea's remote rainforest creeks.
Fly River Turtle
FishCarettochelys insculpta
A fully aquatic turtle with flippers, a pig-like snout, and a serious attitude.
Fly-speckled Hardyhead
FishCraterocephalus stercusmuscarum
A peaceful Australian native that rewards patient keepers with lively schooling behavior.
Forktail Blue-eye
FishPseudomugil furcatus
Tiny Papua New Guinea gem that puts on its best show in a proper group
Fourspine Cichlid
FishNeolamprologus tetracanthus
A sand-dwelling Lake Tanganyika predator with a clever trick for eating snails.
Freshwater Moray
FishGymnothorax polyuranodon
A true freshwater moray that mistakes fingers for fish when hungry.
Freshwater Rat-tail
FishGymnarchus niloticus
A five-foot electric predator that will bite the hand that feeds it.
Frog-faced Cichlid
FishLamprologus ocellatus
Pocket-sized cichlid with big personality, built around a borrowed shell
Frontosa
FishCyphotilapia gibberosa
A deep-water Lake Tanganyika cichlid with a signature forehead hump and unusual social grace.
Frontosa Cichlid
FishCyphotilapia frontosa
A long-lived Lake Tanganyika giant with a signature forehead hump and surprising personality.
Gabonese Killifish
FishAphyosemion gabunense gabunense
A gentle Gabonese killifish that rewards patient, attentive keepers.
Gertrude Spotted Blue Eye Rainbowfish
FishPseudomugil gertrudae
Tiny rainforest blue-eye that rewards patient keepers with dazzling fin displays.
Giant Cichlid
FishBoulengerochromis microlepis
The largest African cichlid, built like a predator and almost as big as your arm.
Giant freshwater whipray
FishHimantura chaophraya
One of the world's largest freshwater rays, and not for the faint-hearted.
Giant Tigerfish
FishHydrocynus goliath
Razor-toothed Congo predator that most aquariums, and fishkeepers, simply cannot handle.
Giraffe Cichlid
FishNimbochromis venustus
The Lake Malawi cichlid that hunts by playing dead
Golden Julie
FishJulidochromis ornatus
A rock-hugging Tanganyikan cichlid that bonds for life with its partner.
Golden Nugget Pleco
FishBaryancistrus xanthellus
A bold, boulder-dwelling pleco from Brazil's rapids that doesn't share its territory.
Golden-red stiphodon
FishStiphodon rutilaureus
A tiny, rock-hugging stream goby from the clear rivers of Melanesia.
Golden Tropheops
FishPseudotropheus tropheops
A rock-dwelling Malawi cichlid with a surprisingly forceful approach to eating algae.
Goldie River Rainbowfish
FishMelanotaenia goldiei
A large, active rainbowfish from the wild rivers and swamps of New Guinea.
Gold Lyretail
FishAphyosemion australe
A gentle, long-lived killifish and a perfect gateway into the killi hobby.
Graham's Tilapia
FishAlcolapia grahami
A cichlid from one of Earth's most extreme lakes, built to survive where others cannot.
Gray Bichir
FishPolypterus senegalus
A living fossil that breathes air and stalks prey like a tiny armored snake.
Gray Ctenopoma
FishCtenopoma kingsleyae
A long-lived African predator that can outlast almost every fish in your collection.
Greattooth Sawfish
FishPristis microdon
An ancient, river-roaming giant whose rostrum is both weapon and legend.