There are various of fish in the world that are differ from appearance, size, diet, habitat, and so on. This article will introduce 15 most beautiful fish in the world.
- Banggai Cardinal Fish
- Betta Fish
- Blue-faced Angel Fish
- Butterfly Fish
- Clown Fish
- Clown Triggerfish
- Discus
- Emperor Angelfish
- Flame Angelfish
- French Angelfish
- Lionfish
- Mandarin Fish
- Moorish Idol
- Picasso Triggerfish
- Rusty Parrotfish
1. Banggai Cardinal Fish
Appearance & Size: Beautiful colors, distinct shape, long and flowing fins, giant eyes, vertical black stripes, silversides and white spots.
About 3 inches in length.
Habitat: They are found around the Banggai Islands of Indonesia. They are nocturnal creatures that inhabit shallow habitats, including coral reefs, seagrass beds, sea anemones during the day.
Diet: Cope pods, planktonic organisms.
Lifespan: Average: 2.5-3 years; Maximum: 5 years
2. Betta Fish
Appearance & Size: Beautiful bright colors that vary from blue, red, orange, yellow, black, white and green. Different types of betta fish have different tails.
Around 2.25 to 2.5 inches (6 cm) in size as adults.
Habitat: They are native to the Mekong basin of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, but are mostly seen in the Chao Phraya river in Thailand. They can be found in both floodplains, rice paddies, and in standing waters of canals.
Diet: As carnivores, they require diets high in animal protein. They like insects, insect larvae, pellets, flakes, frozen and freeze-dried foods.
Lifespan: 2-5 years
3. Blue-faced Angel Fish
Appearance & Size: Striking facial coloration, which has a bright blue color.
Relatively large among the nautical fish, with a length of 35 centimeters.
Habitat: They are most commonly seen in coral reefs in the islands of Maldives, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Micronesia and northern Australia.
Diet: As omnivores, blue-faced angelfish eat tunicates, sponges and other encrusting organisms, and will also eat algae in the wild.
But in the aquarium, they need both a meaty and algae-based diet. You can feed them with shrimp combined with spirulina and marine algae.
Lifespan: About 10 years.
4. Butterfly Fish
Appearance & Size: Some species are dull-colored, but most wear intricate patterns with striking backgrounds of blue, red, orange, or yellow. Many have dark bands across their eyes and round, eye-like dots on their flanks.
Butterflyfish mostly range from 12 to 22 cm (4.7 to 8.7 in) in length.
Habitat: They are found in the world’s warm temperate and tropical waters. Their geographic distribution includes most of the world’s waters, including near Australia and Asia in the Pacific and North and South America in the Atlantic, as well as islands in the Caribbean.
Diet: Zooplankton, tiny motile crustaceans and mollusks, all types of soft and stony corals, anemones, fan or tube worms, other soft and encrusting sessile invertebrates associated with live rock.
Lifespan: Over 3 years
5. Clown Fish
The clownfish shot to fame after their appearance in Finding Nemo, and are known by many people now as ‘Nemo’.
Appearance & Size: Bright color with stunning, thick orange and white bands.
It reaches about 4.3 inches in length.
Habitat: They live in the coral reefs on the coasts of Australia and Southeast Asia and warm waters of the Indian Ocean in sea anemones.
Diet: Various small invertebrates and algae.
Lifespan: 6-10 years
6. Clown Triggerfish
Appearance & Size: The lower half of their body is dark with large white spots. The upper half is yellow with small black dots. They have a yellow or white stripe across their face with a yellow snout.
Clown triggerfish are quite big and can grow up to 50 cm (19.5 in).
Habitat: They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean until the western Pacific Ocean and the western Atlantic Ocean. They are most commonly seen in clear water along reef slopes.
Diet: They are carnivores with very strong jaws and broad teeth. They like eating preferred prey, hard-shelled invertebrates like sea urchins, crustaceans, and mollusks.
Lifespan: Over 10 years
7. Discus
Appearance & Size: From the front, they look very thin, but from the side, they are a round disc shape. They come in lots of different colors, but the red coloring is considered to be one of the most beautiful.
They can reach a length of 15 cm (6 in) and weigh up to 250 g (8.8 oz).
Habitat: They are native to the Amazon river basin in South Africa.
Diet: Plant material, detritus, small worms and crustaceans.
Lifespan: 10-15 years
8. Emperor Angelfish
Appearance & Size: Juveniles are dark blue with pale blue and white rings. They will get a beautiful pattern of blue and yellow stripes that stretch horizontally across their body when they get older.
They reach lengths of up to 15 inches, however, in captivity they usually grow to around 12 inches.
Habitat: They are native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans – from the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Austral Islands.
Diet: Both small invertebrates and plants, especially sponges and algae.
Lifespan: 15-18 years in the aquarium; Over 20 years in wild
9. Flame Angelfish
Appearance & Size: Bright orange-red body with black vertical stripes and spots. Blue tipped dorsal and anal fins.
Adult flame angelfish reach around 6 inches (15.2cm).
Habitat: They are found in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Diet: Plants, like algae, as well as some smaller aquatic animals.
Lifespan: 5-7 yeas
10. French Angelfish
Appearance & Size: Juveniles are black with vertical yellow bands. As they mature, the stripes disappear and leave a deep grey or black-colored body with flakes of yellow.
Adult french angelfish may reach a maximum length of 24 inches (61 cm), but they are more common at lengths of 16 inches (40 cm).
Habitat: They are found in the western Atlantic from New York and the Bahamas to Brazil. They are also found in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Atlantic at depths of 2-100 meters (6.7-328 ft).
Diet: Sessile invertebrates and plants, including sponges, algae, soft corals, tunicates, and others.
Lifespan: 10-15 years
11. Lionfish
Appearance & Size: Beautiful colors and striped bodies with spiky venomous fin rays.
2 to 16 inches in length.
Habitat: They are native to the Indo-Pacific and the Pacific Ocean and are most commonly seen around the edges of reefs, in lagoons, and on rocky surfaces down to 50 m.
Diet: Lionfish are indiscriminate eaters. They will eat whatever fits in their mouth. This includes many smaller species of fish and invertebrates that are important herbivores, keeping algae in check on the reef. It also includes the young of commercially important fish species, such as snapper and grouper.
Lifespan: Over 15 years
12. Mandarin Fish
Appearance & Size: Vivid colors and beautiful patterns. Covered in tiny spikes which inject toxic mucus into anything or anyone who tries to handle it.
About 3 inches (8 cm) in length.
Habitat: They are native to the Pacific and are usually found in the warm waters from the Ryukyu Islands to Australia.
Diet: Cope pods, newly hatched brine shrimp, California blackworms, protozoans, small worms, small crustaceans such as mysids, amphipods and isopods.
Lifespan: 10-15 years
13. Moorish Idol
Appearance & Size: Large thick vertical stripes in contrasting black and white. Sunlight yellow patch towards the back of their body. Long extravagant filament trails out from the tip of the dorsal fin.
Moorish idol fish usually reach a length of seven inches (18 cm).
Habitat: They are found in tropical and subtropical reefs and lagoons in the Indo-Pacific. It’s common to see them around East Africa, Hawaii, southern Japan, Micronesia, and in the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and the southern Gulf of California.
Diet: Corals, sponges, tunicates and other benthic invertebrates.
Lifespan: 2-4 years
14. Picasso Triggerfish
Appearance & Size: Tan body with gradient dark bands, and vibrant blue and black stripes on the top of the head, with a yellow stripe from cheek to cheek and deeply set-back eyes.
Grow up to 30 cm (11.8) in length.
Habitat: They are found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Diet: High protein Diets, shelled creatures, fish, squid, krill, and shrimp.
Lifespan: 10 years
15. Rusty Parrotfish
Appearance & Size: Bright colors and patterns. The body is blue and green, but can also have a brownish color with light and dark bands
Around 41 cm (16 in) long with a multi-colored body.
Habitat: They are found on coral reefs in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Aden.
Diet: Algae
Lifespan: 5-7 years
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