Fish that Start with T

If you’ve been looking for a fish with a name beginning with T then you’re in luck. In this post we have compiled a list of both freshwater and saltwater fish starting with the 20th letter of the alphabet. You will definitely recognise a couple of common fish names, like tuna, trout and tilapia and perhaps you’ll know even more as you read on. Tell us in the comments how many of these fish you have already heard of and which are your favorites.

As we have done in all of our fish A-Z installments so far, we have popped the scientific names in brackets next to the common fish names. These scientific Latin names make each breed of fish recognisable all around the world as this name does not change based on language. Latin is no longer used as a mainstream language, but is ideal for the classification of animals, plants and other living organisms.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Telescopefish in our saltwater list and search for images… don’t do this if your nightmares are easily triggered.

Our Top 5 Fish Names Beginning with Letter T

Let’s start looking at our fish that start with T and take a peek at 5 of our picks in a little more detail. Each fish has its own special character, whether it’s shaped like a twig or covered in electric blue stripes, there’s something to keep every fish fan happy in our top five.

Tanganyika Lampeye (Lamprichthys tanganicanus)

As you may be able to tell by the name, this fish is native to Lake Tanhanyika which is also home to many cichlids. The Tanganyika Lampeye, however, are a lot more peaceful than their lake cohabitants and should be kept with other gentle species such as shell-dwellers. Even though the Lampeye live in the same vicinity as cichlids, they don’t fair well in tanks alongside them.

Tanganyika Lampeyes are omnivorous and not very fussy with their food, but a good balance of live and dried foods with plenty of nutrients will keep your lampeye happy and healthy. One thing they are fussy with however, is their water quality – so don’t keep one of these fish unless you’re great at tank upkeep and regular cleaning.

Tetra (Hyphessobrycon bentosi)

There are multiple types of Tetra in the fishy kingdom, most commonly known is probably the Neon Tetra which has a fluorescent stripe along their body and is quite popularly kept in large shoaling groups. This Tetra is a little less brightly colored but is still a pretty cute fish that is great to keep.

Found in the wild in the Amazon River basin, these Tetras like roots, wood and quite densley planted areas. They are a very friendly fish, so make ideal community tank members, especially when kept with other similarly-sized fish. Tetras do like to be in groups, so make sure you have at least 8 of this type in your tank at one time.

Texas Cichlid (Cichlasoma cyanoguttatus)

The Texas Cichlid is the only naturally occurring cichlid in the USA but has since been introduced to areas of Mexico and even Florida, where there are thriving populations. Since this fish prefers a more pond-like environment, it is best kept in relatively densely planted tanks with plenty of rocks and wood for hiding. Don’t expect to keep a perfectly aquascaped tank when a Texas Cichlid is around – they like to dig and rearrange things a bit, so all of your hard work would go to waste.

These cichlids do like the odd bit of live food and thrive on aquatic invertebrates when in the wild, but they really aren’t too fussy and will most likely eat flakes, pellets, frozen food and even vegetables if this is what is on the menu.

Three Spot Eartheater (Satanoperca daemon)

This pretty innocent-looking fish certainly has an evil sounding scientific name – Satanoperca translating as Satan (the devil) and perch and then the species name daemon. But does the Three Spot Eartheater live up to this demonic classification? Well… not really. This fish is predominantly peaceful, only becoming slightly territorial when protecting eggs during breeding. Despite their large looking mouths, these Eartheaters will only prey on fish no larger than a few millimetres.

Keep tankmates for this fish of the peaceful kind and with similar water requirements to make sure everyone gets along just fine. They do like to form strong groups, so perhaps consider a single species tank of about 5 Three Spot Eartheaters.

Twig Catfish (Farlowella acus)

We told you there was a fish in our list that looks like a twig and we’re not about to disappoint you. The Twig Catfish is a lovely friendly fish, but is best kept in single species tanks due to its extreme sensitivities and very specific requirements. Twig Catfish perhaps aren’t the best option for a beginner aquarist to choose.

These shy little catfish like to have plenty of places to hide in their tanks, so lots of plants and pieces of natural debris (such as branches or leaves) work well. Twig Catfish are mostly herbivorous, but bloodworm and daphnia are a great food option every so often.

List of fish names starting with T

If that little introduction of our 5 top fish that start with T has tickled your fancy and got you wondering about all of the other fabulous fish in our lists, then keep on reading.

If you can spot any that we might have missed out, comment below and we can add them in!

Freshwater fish beginning with T:

• T-Barb (Barbus lateristriga)
• Tail-Spot Corydoras (Corydoras caudimaculatus)
• Taillight Tetra (Bryconops melanurus)
• Taimen (Hucho taimen)
• Talking Catfish (Amblydoras hancocki)
• Tanganyika Catfish (Lophiobagrus cyclurus)
• Tapah Catfish (Wallago leerii)
• Tapetail (Gyrinomimus grahami)
• Tarpon (Megalops cyprinoldes)
• Temperate Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)
• Temperate Ocean-Bass (Synagrops bellus)
• Temperate Perch (Percichthys trucha)
• Temporalis Cichlid (Telmatochromis temporalis)
• Tench (Tinca tinca)
• Tenpounder (Elops)
• Tenuis Tetra (Mimagoniates lateralis)
• Ternetzi Anostomus (Anostomus ternetzi)
• Thick-Lipped Gourami (Colisa labiosa)
• Thomas’ Chaetostoma (Chaetostoma thomasi)
• Thorny Catfish (Platydoras armatulus)
• Thread-finned cichlid (Acarichthys heckelii)
• Threadfin Acara (Acarichthys heckelli)
• Threadfin Rainbowfish (Irantherina werneri)
• Three Spot Gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus)
• Three Striped Pencilfish (Nannobrycon eques)
• Three-Lined Pencilfish (Nannostomus trifasciatus)
• Three-Lined Pimelodid (Pimelodus albofasciatus)
• Three-Lined Rasbora (Rasbora trilineata)
• Three-Spot Earth Eater (Satanoperca daemon)
• Three-Spot Gourami (Trichogaster trichopterus)
• Three-Spot Tetra (Odontostilbe kriegi)
• Three-Striped Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma trifasciata)
• Ticto Barb (Barbus ticto)
• Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi)
• Tiger Barb (Puntigrus tetrazona)
• Tiger Characin (Hydrocynus vittatus)
• Tiger Loach (Botia helodes)
• Tiger Ray (Potamotrygon menchacai)
• Tiger Shovelnose Catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum)
• Tiger Tetra (Hoplias malabaricus)
• Tiger Tilapia (Tilapia mariae)
• Tigerperch (Terapon jarbua)
• Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
• Tinfoil Barb (Barbodes schwanefeldii)
• Tire Track Eel (Mastacembelus armatus)
• Toadfish (Torquigener pleurogramma)
• Toae Cichlid (Neolamprologus toae)
• Tonguefish (Symphurus pusillus)
• Topminnow (Fundulus heteroclitus)
• Torrent Catfish (Amblyceps mangois)
• Torrent Fish (Cheimarrichthys fosteri)
• Trahira (Erythrinus sp.)
• Tretocephalus Cichlid (Neolamprologus tretocephalus)
• Trewavas’ Mbuna (Labeotropheus trewavasae)
• Trewavas’ Neolebias (Neolebias trewavasae)
• Trimac Cichlid (Cichlasoma trimaculatum)
• Tropical Gar (Atractosteus tropicus)
• Trout (Salmo trutta)
• Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariensis)
• Trout-Perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus)
• True Red Congo Tetra (Micralestes stormsi)
• Tui Chub (Siphateles bicolor)
• Turquoise Severum (Heros appendiculatus)
• Twin-Stripe Pencilfish (Nannostomus digrammus)
• Two Point Tetra (Brycinus bimaculatus)
• Two-Banded Cichlid (Telmatochromis bifrenatus)
• Two-Lined Pencilfish (Nannostomus bifasciatus)
• Two-Rayed Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus hypsiurus)
• Two-Spot Barb (Barbus bimaculatus)
• Two-Spot Cichlid (Cichlasoma bimaculatum)
• Two-Spot Pink Bagrid (Mystus micracanthus)
• Two-Spot Rasbora (Rasbora elegans elegans)

Saltwater fish beginning with T:

• Tadpole Cod (Guttigadus globosus)
• Tadpole Fish (Ijimaia plicatellus)
• Tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix)
• Tang (Acanthurus sohal)
• Tarwhine (Rhabdosargus sarba)
• Telescopefish (Gigantura chuni)
• Thornfish (Cottoperca gobio)
• Thread-Tail (Stylephorus chordatus)
• Threadfin (Polydactylus octonemus)
• Threadfin Bream (Pentapodus emeryii)
• Three-Toothed Puffer (Triodon macropterus)
• Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
• Thresher Shark (Alopias pelagicus)
• Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
• Tilefish (Malacanthus latovittatus)
• Titan Triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens)
• Tommy Ruff (Arripis georgianus)
• Tompot Blenny (Parablennius gattorugine)
• Torpedo (Torpedo torpedo)
• Treefish (Sebastes serriceps)
• Trevally (Symphurus thermophilus)
• Triggerfish (Canthidermis maculata)
• Triplefin Blenny (Notoclinops caerulepunctus)
• Triplespine (Triacanthus biaculeatus)
• Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis)
• Tripod Fish (Bathypterois grallator)
• Trumpeter (Mendosoma lineatum)
• Trumpetfish (Aulostomus chinensis)
• Trunkfish (Lactophrys bicaudalis)
• Tube-Eye (Stylephorus chordatus)
• Tube-Snout (Aulorhynchus flavidus)
• Tubeblenny (Emblemaria atlantica)
• Tubeshoulder (Platytroctes apus)
• Tuna (Thunnus sp.)
• Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)
• Two Spotted Goby (Gobiusculus flavescens)