Fish starting with P

Pacific Brook Lamprey

A nonparasitic brook lamprey native to Oregon’s Columbia River basin.

Pacific Capelin

A small schooling fish of the North Pacific and nearby Arctic waters.

Pacific Cod

Found across the North Pacific, chiefly over the continental shelf and upper ocean slopes.

Pacific Flatnose

A deep-water North Pacific fish recorded from Japan and the Bering Sea toward Hawaii and the Gulf of California.

Pacific Hake

Ranges through the northeastern Pacific, from northern Vancouver Island toward the northern Gulf of California.

Pacific Herring

Uses sheltered bays and estuaries as spawning habitat.

Pacific Lamprey

Spends several years developing in freshwater before later life stages migrate between rivers and the ocean.

Pacific Rainbow Smelt

A northern smelt distributed in Arctic and North Pacific waters.

Pacific River Goby

A Pacific island goby found from the Marianas toward Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji, using fresh and brackish waters.

Pacific Sardine

Eats plankton in Pacific coastal waters from southeastern Alaska to Baja California, forming schools that feed larger marine predators.

Pacific Staghorn Sculpin

Lives along western North America’s Pacific coast.

Pacific Threadfin

Ranges from Indonesia and southern Japan east to Hawaii, French Polynesia and Pitcairn Island.

Pacific Tomcod

A coastal cod ranging from the southeastern Bering Sea to central California.

Paddlefish

Native to the Mississippi River basin, where large connected river systems historically supported its movements.

Paddletail

Eats fish and a wide variety of marine invertebrates, including shrimp, crabs, lobsters and squid.

Pahranagat Spinedace

An extinct spinedace formerly native to freshwater habitats in Nevada.

Pahrump Killifish

A desert poolfish originally native to Nevada’s Pahrump Valley.

Pahu

A marine boxfish recorded in both the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Painted Frogfish

An Indo-Pacific frogfish associated with tropical marine habitats.

Painted Moray

A moray of tropical Indo-Pacific waters, also found around some eastern Pacific islands.

Paiute Sculpin

Favors cold creeks and smaller rivers, especially riffles covered with gravel and broken rock.

Palauan Riffle Goby

A stream goby ranging from Java through Micronesia toward Vanuatu, northern Australia and New Caledonia.

Pale Ruby Snapper

A deep-water snapper recorded from the western Indian Ocean toward Micronesia, southern Japan and New Caledonia.

Paleback Darter

Uses shallow, rocky headwater pools and springs with abundant vegetation.

Palezone Shiner

Lives in clear, flowing streams over a mixture of rock and sand.

Pallid Chub

A small chub native to southeastern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle.

Pallid Shiner

A North American shiner associated with the Mississippi watershed.

Pallid Sturgeon

Native to the Missouri and lower Mississippi river basins, where it inhabits major flowing waterways.

Pantosteus bondi

A western sucker native to the Columbia and lower Snake River drainage region.

Pantosteus jordani

A sucker of the upper Missouri basin, from the Black Hills toward Wyoming, Montana and Alberta.

Pantosteus lahontan

Native to the Lahontan basin across Nevada, Oregon and California.

Paradise Bass

A striped bass–yellow bass hybrid, distinct from the more familiar white bass–striped bass cross.

Parupeneus insularis

A Pacific goatfish recorded around island groups including the Marianas, Hawaii, Samoa, the Cook Islands and French Polynesia.

Pealip Redhorse

A freshwater redhorse native to Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Peamouth Chub

Uses shallow, weedy parts of lakes and rivers. Young fish school near shore before moving deeper later in summer.

Peamouth-Northern Pikeminnow Hybrid

A peamouth–northern pikeminnow hybrid, combining two freshwater fishes of northwestern North America.

Peamouth-Redside Shiner Hybrid

A cross between peamouth and redside shiner, two western North American freshwater fishes.

Pearl Dace

Lives in cool headwaters, small lakes and bog-fed streams, including peaty beaver ponds over sand or gravel.

Pearl Darter

A southern darter with a native range in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Pearl Roach

Favors shallow, plant-filled lake areas and river backwaters, laying eggs on submerged vegetation.

Pecos Gambusia

Native to the Pecos River system in Texas and New Mexico.

Pecos Pupfish

A desert pupfish of the Pecos watershed in eastern New Mexico and western Texas.

Peppered Chub

Favors shallow channels of permanently flowing sandy streams, especially currents over clean, fine sand.

Peppered Shiner

Lives in the Red and Ouachita drainages of southeastern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas.

Percina nevisense

Uses gravel-bottomed riffles and flowing runs in smaller rivers.

Permit

A western Atlantic fish ranging from Massachusetts to Brazil and around much of the Caribbean.

Phantom Shiner

An extinct shiner formerly found in warm Rio Grande reaches from central New Mexico toward southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

Philippine Dartfish

A dartfish recorded from Madagascar and India toward New Guinea, southern Japan and northern Australia.

Piebald Madtom

A small catfish recorded in several river systems associated with Tennessee and Mississippi coastal tributaries.

Piedmont Darter

A darter of gravel runs and riffles in small to medium-sized rivers.

Pike Killifish

A predatory killifish with a native range extending from Mexico to Nicaragua.

Piked Dogfish

A shark found in shallow and offshore waters, especially in temperate seas.

Pikeperch

A freshwater predator associated with large rivers and productive lakes.

Pinewoods Darter

Uses creek riffles over gravel and plant-filled areas with strong currents.

Pinewoods Shiner

Native to North Carolina’s Neuse River basin, with an introduced record from the Haw River.

Pinfish

A coastal fish of the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

Pink Salmon

A North Pacific salmon with additional introduced populations in the upper Great Lakes and northern European waters.

Pintailed Triggerfish

Adults favor large coral structures; younger fish use rockier reef areas that provide hiding places.

Pirate Perch

A freshwater fish of Atlantic coastal-plain waterways and quiet backwaters in the Mississippi Valley.

Pit Sculpin

Lives in the Pit and upper Sacramento river systems of Oregon and California.

Pit-Klamath Brook Lamprey

A brook lamprey native to the Pit and Klamath region of Oregon and California.

Plainfin Midshipman

Moves into rocky intertidal habitats along the Pacific coast each spring to breed.

Plains Darter

A freshwater darter form associated with Texas and neighboring southern Great Plains waters.

Plains Killifish

Uses a variety of shallow river and stream habitats in its inland range.

Plains Minnow

Favors quiet river eddies and backwaters with aquatic vegetation.

Plains Topminnow

Associated with shallow, clear water and thick vegetation.

Planehead Filefish

An Atlantic filefish ranging along the Americas from Canada to Brazil and along western Africa from Morocco to Angola.

Plateau Darter

A plateau darter form found in central United States freshwater systems, including the Ozark region.

Plateau Shiner

A Texas shiner of the Edwards Plateau, including upper Guadalupe and Nueces river habitats.

Platy

Uses slow-moving water in canals, ditches and warm springs.

Pleurosicya larsonae

A tiny marine goby whose natural range is restricted to the Hawaiian Islands.

Poeciliopsis sonoriensis

Eats organic debris and small pieces of plant and animal material.

Pointed Fin Goby

Uses muddy estuaries and coastal bays, tolerating marine, brackish and some freshwater conditions.

Polar Cod

A cold-water cod of the Arctic region, adapted to northern marine habitats.

Polynesian Longfinned Eel

Found in Pacific freshwater systems, including Indonesia, the Society Islands and Pitcairn.

Polypera greeni

A North Pacific snailfish recorded around the Aleutian and Pribilof islands and south toward Washington.

Pond Smelt

A small smelt recorded in eastern Asia and northwestern North America.

Popeye Shiner

Uses temperate freshwater habitats with gravel along the bottom.

Porcupinefish

A spiny marine fish distributed in tropical and subtropical waters.

Porthole Livebearer

A livebearer native from Mexico to Honduras, with introduced populations in California and Venezuela.

Porthole Pipefish

A western Pacific pipefish ranging from Indonesia toward the Caroline Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Potomac Sculpin

Lives in the James and Potomac drainages across Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Prairie Chub

Occupies flowing sand-and-gravel runs in creeks and rivers of varying sizes.

Pretty Shiner

Uses pools and runs with sandy or clay bottoms in headwater creeks and small rivers.

Prickly Sculpin

Native to Pacific-draining waterways from Alaska south to southern California’s Ventura River.

Proserpine Shiner

A freshwater shiner recorded in Mexico and the United States.

Pugnose Minnow

A North American minnow distributed mainly in the eastern United States and Canada.

Pugnose Shiner

Favors clear, weedy lakes and gently flowing freshwater streams.

Pumpkinseed

Uses warm, quiet ponds, lakes and creek pools with plenty of aquatic plants.

Pupilspot Goby

A goby ranging from southern India and the Andaman Islands toward New Guinea, southern Japan and northern Australia.

Purple Cichlid

Feeds on small animals, including worms, crustaceans and insects.

Pygmy Filefish

A tiny marine filefish ranging from North Carolina through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean toward southeastern Brazil.

Pygmy Killifish

A tiny killifish native to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Pygmy Madtom

A tiny catfish known from only two regions of Tennessee.

Pygmy Whitefish

Lives in western North American mountain lakes and streams, with isolated populations in Lake Superior and eastern Siberia.