While there are a wide variety of pistol shrimp species in the wild, not many varieties are caught for the marine aquarium trade. Some even come in as hitchhikers on live rock. The pistol shrimp is a comparatively small shrimp with most ranging from one to three inches.

One of the smallest ornamental shrimps, the sex shrimp is a mainstay of the saltwater aquarium hobby. It is so called because of the way its hind area is in a constant twirling movement. Sexy shrimp are a sort of anemone shrimp frequently found in the vicinity of anemones in the wild.

The royal gramma (Gramma Loreto) and 4 others, the flame angelfish (Centropyge oriculus), yellow tangs (Zebrasome Flavescens), blue tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus) and the percula clown (both ocellaris and percula) are the most popular fishes in the hobby. It is also well-known as the fairy basslet.

The Mandarin goby (Synchiropus Splendidus) is one of the most stunning fishes ever to reach the hobby. It almost looks like a painting with its blue, orange and green lines and patches all across its body. While their commonly known as the mandarin goby, they are not real gobies at all. Its rarely called genuine name, is the mandarin dragonet.

The queen angelfish (Holacanthus Ciliaris) is one of three especially recognizable “big” angel in the marine aquarium hobby these days. The other two being the French angel (Pomacanthus Paru) and the emperor angel (Pomacanthus Imperator). It reigns as the most popular species inside its genus, to a large extent similar to the flame angelfish (Centropyge Loriculus). They are part of the Pomacanthidae (saltwater angelfish) family and are one of the biggest angelfish among its cousins.

The Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion Ocellaris) reigns great in the many recognizable marine fish class. Together the ocellaris and percula clowns are the marine aquarium hobby’s greatest ambassadors. Most people may think this is due to the hit animated film, Finding Nemo. They don’t appreciate these clown fish were already recognizable before the film was released.

The Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma Flavescens) is one of the most identifiable fishes in the saltwater aquarium industry along with the blue tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus), percula clownfish (percula, Ocellaris) as well as the Flame Angelfish (Centropyge Loriculus). It is the most recognizable member of the tang family with it isn’t demanding to see why. The entire fish is colored a vivid pastel like yellow.

The Blue Tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus) with the yellow tang (Zebrasoma Flavescens), percula clownfish (Ocellaris, Percula), royal gramma (Gramma Loreto) and the flame angels (Centropyge Loriculus) make up the 5 most familiar marine fish in the marine aquarium hobby. It is seen as the sole species under the genus Paracanthurus. Its body is a eye-catching bright blue while it has broad black markings that stretch out out from its eyes to its tail.