Fish that Start with P

Dave

Fish that Start with P - AquariumSavvy.com

This letter of the alphabet has quite a lot of fishy activity, with plenty of river, pond and sea creatures to be found beginning with P. You may be able to rattle off a few common names of fish that start with P – pike, perch, platy, piranha, pupfish, pigfish, pineapple fish… no, we’re not kidding, there really is a fish named after one of our favorite fruits.

Every fish in our post list has brackets alongside its common name, these brackets hold the fish’s scientific name which is actually in Latin. Latin names for living things have a genus and a species – the first part of the name is the genus with an uppercase first letter and the species is the second part which is always all lowercase letters.

Now let’s get on into our list and begin with some of the fish we thought were worth a bit of an extra mention.

Our Top 5 Fish Names Beginning with Letter P

All 5 of the fish we have chosen for our little top selection are pretty cool fish to keep, so you might be intrigued to house one of them in your aquarium once you’re finished reading. We wanted to tell you a little more about these ones because of their popularity.

Which fish that start with P are your favorites?

Panda Corydoras (Corydoras panda)

The word panda already makes us excited, as we love these black and white bundles of fluff, however, you won’t find any fur on a Panda Corydora. You will find the signature black eye patch though! These corys are pretty easy going and generally a joy to keep as they tend to make use of all of the space in a tank. They are bottom feeders so will require sinking food to keep them happiest.

Tankmates for Panda Corys can be quite varied, they work well with slightly smaller/medium-sized fish that spend more time in the middle to top of the tank – Betta fish are an ideal pairing. Provide areas in the tank for the corys to hide and make sure you choose a gravel as your top substrate.

Parrot Cichlid (Hoplarchus psittacus)

The Parrot Cichlid should not be confused with the Blood Parrot Cichlid who looks quite different to the fish you see above. The one we’re talking about today is a large South American cichlid with a powerful mouth, perfect for chomping shrimp or pellets – the Parrot Cichlid is an omnivore. This diet orientation means that they could end up eating plants in your tank, so they may not be well suited to a perfectly pristine aquascaped tank.

Going back to this cichlid’s strong jaw, this means that it is not a fish to be kept in a community tank as they can be aggressive and that bite will cause damage! Because this is a large variety of fish, they will need a large tank and if you hope to keep a few of them, you may need a bigger tank that you thing – huge in fact.

Peacock Cichlid (Aulonocara Nyassae)

From a parrot to a peacock, these cichlids are named due to their coloration. We wish a Peacock Cichlid had a huge feathery tail just like the bird, but that really wouldn’t be practical for a fish sadly. They do, however, have beautiful coloring with vibrant hues of orange, blue, yellow and red appearing on the multiple varieties of this fish. When it comes to cichlids, quite often they are aggressive creatures, but the Peacock Cichlid is one of the more docile breeds, so they can make great community fish.

In the tank, this fish tends to dig into the substrate, so a sandy-type would work well for this cichlid. If you feed it with invertebrates, it will hunt them at the bottom of the tank before striking – Peacock Cichlids live towards the bottom of the tank, so their food should be made available for them here.

There is a larger (pretty huge in fact) type of Peacock Cichlid which is in our list below that has a different scientific name.

Pearl Danio (Brachydanio albolineatus)

These pearly little fish are found widely in the wild across Asia and tend to live in streams running through wooded areas. Their normal environment is quite rocky, so it could be a good idea to include these in the tank to make the Pearl Danio feel at home. They enjoy chowing down on a variety of insects and larvae, but will actually eat almost anything when kept in an aquarium.

The Pearl Danio is perfect for a community tank as they are very peaceful and keep themselves to themselves. They can be kept with many other fish varieties including catfish, loaches and tetras, but make sure there are at least 8 danios to shoal together.

Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)

When you think of a Piranha you imagine teeth and a little bit of violence, but actually, these fish aren’t quite as scary as the reputation that precedes them. Yes, they aren’t the prettiest fish in the aquarium, but they are quite interesting. Their row of sharp teeth is designed to tear, chew and rip flesh, but this is rarely used to attack other fish or human hands. They may prey on sick fish that are slower and easy targets for them to catch, but if you keep them busy with their own food, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Piranhas are best kept in tanks with other piranhas, just so their environment can be perfectly matched to their species – oftentimes no substrate is needed in a piranha tank and it makes it easier to clean up the large amount of waste that they tend to produce…

List of fish names starting with P

Here are even more cool fish that start with P. We’ve got Pacific fish, peacock fish, pearl fish and a few purple fish thrown in there for good measure. If you spot a name that intrigues you, we highly recommend you look them up online, there really are some groovy specimens beginning with P. Let us know if your fave isn’t in our list – we’d love for you to comment them below.

Freshwater fish beginning with P:

  • Pacific Fat Sleeper Goby (Dormitator latifrons)
  • Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus)
  • Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
  • Pacu (Myleus rubripinnis rubripinnis)
  • Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)
  • Painted Glass Fish (Chanda sp.)
  • Painted Talking Catfish (Acanthodoras cataphractus)
  • Pakistani Loach (Botia lohachata)
  • Palembang Pufferfish (Tetraodon biocellatus)
  • Panda Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma nijsseni)
  • Panga (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus)
  • Papuan Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia papuae)
  • Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis)
  • Paradise Fish (Macropodus opercularis)
  • Paradise Threadfin (Polynemus paradiseus)
  • Paraense Catfish (Brachyplatystoma paraense)
  • Paraguay Mouthbrooder (Gymnogeophagus balzanii)
  • Parallel Striped Mbuna (Melanochromis parallelus)
  • Parasitic Catfish (Vandellia cirrhosa)
  • Parkinson’s Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia parkinsoni)
  • Parnahybae Catfish (Brachyplatystoma parnahybae)
  • Paroon Shark (Pangasius sanitswongi)
  • Parrot Pacu (Ossubtus xinguensis)
  • Pasionis Cichlid (Cichlasoma pasionis)
  • Pastel Cichlid (Amphilophus alfari)
  • Payne’s Synodontis (Mochokiella paynei)
  • Peaceful Betta (Betta imbellis)
  • Peacock Cichlid (Cichla ocellaris)
  • Peacock Eel (Macrognathus aculeatus)
  • Peacock Goby (Tateurndina ocellicauda)
  • Peamouth (Mylocheilus caurinus)
  • Pearl Cichlid (Geophagus brasiliensis)
  • Pearl Gourami (Trichogaster leeri)
  • Pearl Roach (Rutilus erythrophthamus)
  • Pearl-Linned Lamprologus (Neolamprologus tetracanthus)
  • Pearly Lamprologus (Altolamprologus calvus)
  • Penang Mouthbrooding Fighter (Betta pugnax
  • Pencil Catfish (Vandellia cirrhosa)
  • Pencilfish (Nannostomus unifasciatus)
  • Pencilsmelt (Microstoma microstoma)
  • Penguin Tetra (Thayeria boehlkei)
  • Pepper Tetra (Axelrodia stigmatias)
  • Peppered Corydoras (Corydoras paleatus)
  • Perch (Perca flavescens)
  • Perruno Catfish (Perrunichthys perruno)
  • Peruvian Tetra (Hyphessobrycon peruvianus)
  • Peter’s Elephantnose (Gnathonemus petersii)
  • Peters’ Elephantnose Fish (Gnathonemus petersii)
  • Pickerel (Esox cisalpinus)
  • Pictus Catfish (Pimelodus pictus)
  • Pig-Face Pufferfish (Tetraodon suvatti)
  • Pike (Esox lucius)
  • Pike Cichlid (Crenicichla lepidota)
  • Pike Piranha (Serrasalmus elongatus)
  • Pikeperch (Sander vitreus)
  • Piketop Minnow (Belonesox belizanus
  • Pinche Piranha (Serrasalmus eigenmanni)
  • Pingi Logsucker (Garra pingi pingi)
  • Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)
  • Pinktailed Chaleus (Chalceus macrolepidotus)
  • Piraiba Catfish (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum
  • Pirarucu (Arapaima gigas)
  • Pirate perch (Aphredoderus sayanus)
  • Piraya Piranha (Serrasalmus piraya)
  • Pittier’s Tetra (Moenkhausia pitteri)
  • Plain Goby Cichlid (Spathodus marlieri)
  • Plain Nattereri (Copella nattereri)
  • Platinum Tetra (Hemigrammus vorderwinkleri)
  • Platy (Xiphophorus maculatus)
  • Pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus)
  • Plumed Lyretail (Aphyosemion filamentosum)
  • Poll’s Upside-Down Catfish (Synodontis polli)
  • Pollen’s Cichlid (Paratilapia polleni “Madagascar”)
  • Polli Marbled Bichir (Polypterus palmas polli)
  • Port Acara (Aequidens portalegrensis)
  • Port Hoplo (Hoplosternum thoracatum)
  • Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni)
  • Porthole Catfish (Dianema longibarbis)
  • Powder Blue Gourami (Colisa lalia)
  • Powen (Coregonus pennantii)
  • Praecox Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox)
  • Pretty Pleco (Peckoltia pulcher)
  • Pretty Tetra (Hemigrammus pulcher)
  • Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)
  • Pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius)
  • Purple Cichlid (Pelvicachromis pulcher)
  • Purple Headed Barb (Barbus nigrofasciatus)
  • Purple Mbuna (Melanochromis vermivorus)
  • Purple-Spotted Gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa)
  • Purple-Striped Gudgeon (Mogurnda mogurnda)
  • Pygmy Rasbora (Boraras maculatus)
  • Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma zonatum)

Saltwater fish beginning with P:

  • Pacific Albacore (Thunnus alalunga)
  • Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus)
  • Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus)
  • Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii)
  • Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira)
  • Pacific Viperfish (Chauliodus macouni)
  • Pancake Batfish (Halieutichthys aculeatus)
  • Parore (Girella tricuspidata)
  • Parrotfish (Scarus frenatus)
  • Peacock Flounder (Bothus mancus)
  • Pearl Perch (Glaucosoma magnificum)
  • Pearleye (Benthalbella infans)
  • Pearlfish (Echiodon rendahli)
  • Pelagic Cod (Melanonus gracilis)
  • Pelican Eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides)
  • Pigfish (Bodianus unimaculatus)
  • Pike Conger (Congresox talabon)
  • Pikeblenny (Emblemaria atlantica)
  • Pilchard (Dussumieria acuta)
  • Pilot Fish (Naucrates ductor)
  • Pineapplefish (Cleidopus gloriamaris)
  • Pineconefish (Monocentris japonica)
  • Píntano (Abudefduf sordidus)
  • Pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus)
  • Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa)
  • Plownose Chimaera (Callorhinchus milii)
  • Poacher (Aspidophoroides monopterygius)
  • Pollock (Pollachius pollachius)
  • Pollyfish (Scarus frenatus)
  • Pomfret (Brama brama)
  • Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus)
  • Pompano Dolphinfish (Coryphaena equiselis)
  • Ponyfish (Eubleekeria splendens)
  • Popeye Catalufa (Pristigenys serrula)
  • Porbeagle Shark (Lamna nasus)
  • Porcupinefish (Diodon nicthemerus)
  • Porgy (Diplodus vulgaris)
  • Prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus)
  • Pricklefish (Stephanoberyx monae)
  • Prickly shark (Echinorhinus cookei)
  • Prowfish (Zaprora silenus)
  • Pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus)

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