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

A whale shark swims with a diver off the coast of East Africa.

Article

The Big Five of the Ocean: Exploring the Waters of East Africa

a graphic depicting the various species of tuna

Article

The Big Tunas

a hairy frogfish with a dark background

Article

Anglerfish Lure Prey Throughout the Ocean

An image of a cell phone displaying the Fish App.

Article

There’s an App for That: Using Phones to Help Make Fishing Sustainable

“On an afternoon dive, I spotted a small group of sweetlips in the current among a shoal of juvenile convict blennies. It took me some time to get close to the fish without spooking them. I took several frames but this one was my favorite because of the

Slideshow

Ocean Fish Pictures

Convict surgeonfish are the roaming sheep of the reef but, instead of noshing on grass, they feed on algae.

Article

Helpful Herbivores

A female napoleon wrasse swims by a reef

Article

An App Helps Scientists Combat Illegal Fish Trade

A blue parrotfish hides among coral.

Article

Tough Teeth and Parrotfish Poop

A photo of a swimming Protanguilla palau, the newly discovered genus and species of eel

Article

Scientists Call New Eel Species A Living Fossil

measuring a fish

Video

Really Small Fry: Shifting Baselines in Marine Fish Stocks

A sea toad from the deep waters off of Curacao.

Slideshow

Collections from Curaçao

Slideshow

Revealing the Family Ties of Cusk-Eels