Fish | Smithsonian Ocean

Colorful fish swim in blue water.

an adult and baby coelacanth specimens on display

Meet the Coelacanth

Learn about the fish that was once thought to be extinct.

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Featured Content

A Honduran small-scale fisherman on a boat setting out to fish.

Article

Clever Measures Track Fishing Pressures

A blue parrotfish hides among coral.

Article

Tough Teeth and Parrotfish Poop

On coral reefs fish are important links in the food chain that sustains higher-order predators (including humans) and keeps everything in balance.

Article

Fish Get Risky Around Oil

A tornado of sardines swirls around diver and photographer Erwin Poliakoff in the Philippines.

Article

Why the Littlest Fish Matter a Whole Lot

A school of akule (Hawaiian for bigeye scad) explode into a camera's frame.

Article

Following the Akule

Are You An Educator?

At Smithsonian Ocean, we have lesson plans, activities, and resources to help you engage your students in the wonders of our oceans.

see all lesson plans see fish lesson plans

Fish Articles

Photo of the head of a leafy seadragon

Article

Devoted Dads: From Seahorses to Sea Spiders

An albatross soars over the ocean.

Article

Is It Love? Why Some Ocean Animals (Sort Of) Mate For Life

A brown and white dragon moray eel with its mouth open.

Article

Surprising Results Upon Reexamining the Curious Jaw of the Moray Eel

Seafood vendor at historic Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington (USA). The market draws both shoppers and gawkers who come to watch the gregarious crew of fishmongers.

Slideshow

World Fisheries from Sea to Table

This queen parrotfish scrapes algae from Caribbean reefs with its parrot-like beak.

Article

From Despair to Repair: Protecting Parrotfish Can Help Bring Back Caribbean Coral Reefs

a flounder blends into the sandy seafloor

Article

Fish Fins that can Taste

an old illustration of an eel

Article

The Origin of Eels

A glowing ocean surface.

Article

Six Ways to See Ocean Ocean Bioluminescence

A school of mahi mahi.

Article

From Larvae to Adults – Finding Impacts of an Oil Spill on Mahi-Mahi

King scallop in Lamlash Bay reserve

Article

A lesson learned twice: The Story of Scotland’s Marine Protected Areas

Grey reef sharks are among the most versatile and tough predators on a Pacific coral reef, but they are also among the most vulnerable species, as they are threatened by wasteful fishing practices like shark finning.

Article

Where the Shark and the Snapper Roam

a red lionfish

Video

Lionfish on the Loose