Machete
An eastern Pacific fish ranging from southern California toward Peru, including the Gulf of California and Galapagos Islands.
Fish starting with M
Browse all 60 fish starting with M. Select a name to explore its species profile.
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Fish starting with M
60 fish 
Magnolia Crappie
A specially produced crappie hybrid used in managed fisheries, combining white crappie and black crappie ancestry.
Mahogany Snapper
A snapper ranging from North Carolina through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean toward Trinidad and Tobago.
Manantial Roundnose Minnow
Native to Texas’s Devils River and San Felipe Creek, giving it a particularly small natural range.
Mangrove Gambusia
A livebearer with separated populations in northwestern Cuba and southern Florida’s coastal region.
Mangrove Jack
Younger fish use inshore waters and rivers; mature fish are more often encountered offshore.
Mangrove Rivulus
Lives among red mangroves and sometimes shelters in burrows made by land crabs.
Maori Snapper
A tropical snapper ranging from the Indian Ocean into Pacific waters.
Marbled Darter
Associated with Tennessee’s Little River drainage, with historical records from the Holston River.
Marbled Eel
Grows in freshwater or estuaries, then migrates into the ocean to reproduce.
Marbled Puffer
A western Atlantic puffer ranging from North Carolina toward Suriname, usually in water deeper than the immediate shoreline.
Marbled Sculpin
Found in the Klamath and Pit river drainages of northern California and southern Oregon.
Margined Madtom
Shelters among rocks, gravel and boulders in clear-water streams.
Margined Sculpin
Native to the Columbia drainage between Washington’s Walla Walla and Oregon’s Umatilla river systems.
Marquesan Sardine
A small sardine with a natural range limited to the Marquesas Islands.
Marsh Killifish
A small coastal killifish native to Florida and Alabama.
Maryland Darter
Historically fed on small stream invertebrates, including snails and the immature stages of caddisflies, mayflies and stoneflies.
Mayan Cichlid
A freshwater cichlid native to southeastern Mexico and Central America.
Meek’s Halfbeak
A slender Atlantic halfbeak ranging from eastern Canada toward Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
Megamouth Shark
A rarely encountered deep-water shark that filters small organisms from the water for food.
Melanesian Glassfish
A coastal glassfish recorded from Thailand and Indonesia toward New Guinea and southern Japan.
Melanesian Stream Pipefish
Uses shaded, well-oxygenated streams with flowing water and rocky or pebbly bottoms.
Meramec Saddled Darter
Occupies fast riffles over gravel and broken rock in small and medium-sized rivers.
Metallic Shiner
A small freshwater shiner native to the southeastern United States.
Mexican Goatfish
A goatfish that commonly forms small schools in coastal marine waters.
Mexican Golden Trout
Native to high mountain headwaters of the Fuerte, Sinaloa and Culiacán rivers in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental.
Mexican Stoneroller
A southwestern stoneroller recorded in Arizona, Texas and nearby parts of Mexico.
Mexican Tetra
Ranges from the lower Rio Grande and other Texas rivers into central and eastern Mexico.
Midas Cichlid
Native to the San Juan River and neighboring watersheds in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
Middling Thread Herring
A schooling herring of the eastern Pacific, from southern California south toward Peru.
Midnight Snapper
Feeds on larger drifting animals, crustaceans and fish.
Milkfish
Uses shallow habitats including coral lagoons, estuaries, tidal creeks, marsh flats and tide pools.
Miller Lake Lamprey
A small lamprey native to Oregon’s Miller Lake drainage.
Mimic Shiner
Native to parts of the Hudson Bay and Great Lakes drainages and much of the Mississippi basin.
Mirror Shiner
A shiner of the upper Tennessee River system across several Appalachian and southeastern states.
Mirrorwing Flyingfish
A flyingfish found widely in tropical and warm temperate seas, including the Caribbean and South China Sea.
Mississippi Silvery Minnow
Associated with lowland waters of the Mississippi River basin.
Missouri Saddled Darter
Uses swift riffles with gravel and rubble bottoms in smaller rivers.
Moapa Dace
Lives only in the upper Muddy River and its warm source springs in southern Nevada.
Mobile Chub
Native to the lower Mobile River basin in Alabama and northeastern Mississippi.
Mobile Logperch
Native to the Mobile River basin across Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
Modoc Sucker
Eats algae, small invertebrates and organic debris, sheltering beneath stones and overhanging vegetation.
Monopterus javanensis
An Asian swamp eel ranging from Sundaland and Thailand toward southern China, with introduced populations elsewhere.
Mooneye
A freshwater fish associated with clear lakes and rivers.
Mosquitofish
A small livebearer native to central and southern United States waters and northeastern Mexico.
Mottled Sculpin
Recorded in the Missouri and Columbia river systems and the Great Basin’s Bonneville drainage.
Mountain Brook Lamprey
Larvae eat algae and organic material; transformed adults rely on stored fat rather than feeding.
Mountain Madtom
A small catfish recorded in the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, Ouachita and Red river systems.
Mountain Mullet
Ranges from southeastern United States coastal drainages through Central America toward Colombia and Venezuela.
Mountain Redbelly Dace
A dace of mountain and Piedmont streams draining toward North America’s Atlantic coast.
Mountain Shiner
Favors clear, flowing creeks and small rivers.
Mountain Sucker
A western sucker found on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, including several major Pacific and interior river basins.
Mountain Whitefish
A widespread western North American whitefish, recorded in northern and mountain river systems.
Mozambique Tilapia
Introduced populations occur in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, sometimes becoming invasive.
Mud Darter
Uses slow-flowing river areas and other quiet habitats, including creeks, swamps, lakes and reservoirs.
Mud Sunfish
A freshwater sunfish distributed along the Atlantic-draining side of the eastern United States.
Mummichog
Lives in estuaries, salt marshes and other brackish coastal habitats.
Muscadine Darter
Favors gravel riffles and flowing runs in small and medium-sized rivers.
Featured
Muskellunge
An ambush predator that rests near weed edges, rocky outcrops and other cover in clear water.
Mutton Snapper
An Atlantic snapper ranging from Massachusetts through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean toward southern Brazil.