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.

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Fish Get Risky Around Oil

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

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Why the Littlest Fish Matter a Whole Lot

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

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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

The Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structure was developed to help scientists study coral reef diversity and have now been adopted broadly to study diversity around the world.

Article

Uncovering Biodiversity… with ARMS and a Submarine Claw

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

Article

Following the Akule

A green mahi-mahi fish underwater

Article

Fish Heart Out of Water

A tusk shell hermit crab peeks out of his shell.

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Uncovering Biodiversity Before It Disappears

A school of mahi mahi.

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

An image of a cell phone displaying the Fish App.

Article

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

Wooden painted fish on a school fence.

Audio

Chinook Salmon: One Species at a Time

Mistaken Point New Foundland

Audio

Ediacaran Fossils: One Species at a Time

Home is where the hull is: Since the dawn of seafaring, humankind has had to deal with pesky creatures, such as barnacles, that “foul” ship hulls and boat propellers like this one.

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No Fouling Around

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

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Helpful Herbivores

Un pescador se sienta en su bote y sostiene una captura de langosta fresca

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The Blue Halo - Barbuda y más allá

A school of Atlantic bluefin tuna swimming.

Audio

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: One Species at a Time