Fish Flashcards (Free Printable PDF)
Fish flashcards PDF set 1 (A-C)
Fish
Angelfish
Habitat
Freshwater and saltwater
Fun Facts
When kept as pets they can recognize their owners by both sound and sight.
Arowana
Freshwater
They are sometimes called dragonfish and are millions of years old.
Barracuda
Saltwater
Barracuda have razor sharp teeth and are said to swim at up to 36mph
Bass
Freshwater and saltwater
They have incredible hearing and can pick up the sound of a crawfish moving.
Betta
Freshwater
There are over 70 different species of betta fish, and they are used to fight in Asia.
Blue Tang
Saltwater
This famous fish from the movie Finding Nemo can live up to 30 years in the wild.
Butterfly Fish
Saltwater
Most butterfly fish have one partner that they have relationship with their whole lives.
Carp
Freshwater
Some species of carp are labelled ass pest fish because they dig up and destroy marine environments.
Fish flashcards PDF set 2 (C-F)
Fish
Catfish
Habitat
Freshwater and saltwater
Fun Facts
There are thousand of species and some are even electric!
Clownfish
Saltwater
Clownfish live in poisonous sea anemones and have a coat of mucus on their bodies to protect them from the tentacles.
Cod
Saltwater and freshwater
These fish love cold water and especially like the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans.
Cownose Ray
Saltwater
They are commonly mistaken for sharks as they like to swim near the waters surface and their fins stick out of the water.
Discus
Freshwater
Discus got their name because their round body shape resembles the Ancient Greek and Olympic sports equipment.
Drum Fish
Saltwater and freshwater
The make a drumming sound by moving and vibrating special muscles next to their bladder.
Fangtooth
Saltwater
The live deep in the ocean, at depths of up to 5000 meters or over 1600 feet!
Fish flashcards PDF set 3 (F-L)
Fish
Flounder
Habitat
Saltwater
Fun Facts
These flat fish swim on their sides. One eye move to the other side of their bodies as they grow up.
Garfish
Freshwater and saltwater
Garfish is also a name used for needlefish and long toms (as seen in the flashcard).
Goldfish
Freshwater
A goldfish doesn’t have a tongue and instead uses its lips to taste things.
Grouper
Saltwater
These fish get big! The goliath grouper has been documented at growing to over eight feet long.
Guitarfish
Saltwater
These oddly-shaped fish live on the sea floor and like to bury themselves under sediment and mud.
Herring
Saltwater
Herring can migrate over 1000 miles in search of warmer waters to breed.
Kingfish
Saltwater
Also known as a king mackerel they are popular amongst sports fishermen as they are powerful and put up a good fight.
Lionfish
Saltwater
Lionfish have poisonous spines that they use for defending themselves.
Fish flashcards PDF set 4 (M-O)
Fish
Mackerel
Habitat
Saltwater
Fun Facts
They’ve been around a while, one mackerel fossil was dated to be about 50 million years old.
Mahi Mahi
Saltwater
Also known as dorado, these fish are very fast and can leap out of the water to get away from predators.
Marlin
Saltwater
Marlin smash into schools of fish and then return to eat the injured animals.
Mudskipper
Saltwater
Mudskippers can breathe on land but they need to keep their gills wet so they always stay near water.
Mullet
Saltwater
These fish are very wary and hard for anglers to catch. Mostly they are caught in nets.
Neon Tetra
Freshwater
They are popular aquarium fish that originate from South America.
Nurse Shark
Saltwater
They capture their pry via sucking ad have rows of small sharp teeth crushing their food.
Oscar
Saltwater
They don’t have eyelids but like to sleep/rest for over 8 hours a day.
Fish flashcards PDF set 5 (P-S)
Fish
Perch
Habitat
Freshwater
Fun Facts
They live all over the world and can be found in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.
Pike
Freshwater
These fish are vicious carnivorous predators that get up to 1.5m in length and even eat small mammals.
Pipefish
Saltwater and freshwater
They change colors as a kind of camouflage to avoid being detected by predators .
Piranha
Freshwater
Piranhas only live in South America where indigenous tribes sometimes use their teeth as tools.
Pufferfish
Saltwater
Pufferfish don’t have teeth, they have a beak instead. When they are stressed or threatened they puff up.
Rabbitfish
Saltwater
Rabbitfish have poisonous spines. They like to move around and hunt for food during the daytime.
Sailfish
Saltwater
The sailfish is said to be the fastest fish of them all. Some estimates say they can swim at 68 mph or 100 km/h.
Salmon
Saltwater and freshwater
Salmon go back to where they were born to spawn their own offspring after years in the ocean.
Fish flashcards PDF set 6 (S)
Fish
Sawfish
Habitat
Saltwater and freshwater
Fun Facts
Sawfish use their long saw-toothed snout to hunt and kill its prey, slashing it back and forth in schools of fish.
Scorpionfish
Saltwater
These fish like to live alone in amongst rocks and in coral reefs where they lay in wait for prey to ambush.
Skate
Saltwater
Skates are a kind of ray but they don’t have stingers. They lay their eggs in purses that protect and incubate them.
Snakehead
Freshwater
These fish walk or wobble across land in search of new bodies of water. They can around 4 days without being in water.
Red Snapper
Saltwater
There are more than 100 different kinds of snapper and their name is derived from the sound of their powerful bite.
Squirrelfish
Saltwater
They have big eyes to help them see at night when they are most active in coral reefs.
Sturgeon
Saltwater and freshwater
There are said to have been around for 200 million years and were a delicacy in Ancient Rome.
Sunfish
Saltwater
Sunfish mostly eat jellyfish and change their colors depending on their emotion.
Fish flashcards PDF set 7 (T-W)
Fish
Tilapia
Habitat
Freshwater
Fun Facts
Originating from Africa and the Middle-East, they are one of the most popular table fish in the world. This fish has also been called the aquatic chicken!
Triggerfish
Saltwater
Triggerfish make nests on the ocean floor which they protect ferociously. They have even attacked human swimmers.
Trout
Freshwater and saltwater
The behavior and survival rate of trout is a good way to indicate how healthy a body of water is.
Trunkfish
Saltwater
A male trunkfish performs a dance for a female trunkfish in order to mate with it.
Tuna
Saltwater
One of these prized fish was sold for 3.2 million dollars at an auction in Tokyo, Japan in 2026.
Unicorn Fish
Saltwater
The unicorn fish is a herbivore, it only eats algae and sea plants. Scientists are still unsure why some of them have horns.
Whale Shark
Saltwater
Although they are the largest fish on our planet, they are completely harmless to people and eat plankton and small fish.
Wrasse
Saltwater
This colorful fish has a name with a silent W. Some species bury themselves in the sand at night to sleep.
Using the fish flashcards in a learning environment
If your a teacher, instructor, or homeschooler, there are many ways you can use these free printable fish picture cards. Some ideas include –
- Sorting. The cards can be sorted alphabetically, or in other interesting ways like most beautiful to ugliest, biggest to smallest, saltwater or fresh water, or any other groupings you like.
- Memory games and matching games.
- Speaking. Learners can describe the fish and what they know about them. Create simple sentences using the fish, and compare fish to each other.
- Writing. You can assign different fish as a research project for both science and English lessons. Students can write what the find out about the fish. Alternatively they could write fictional stories about them.
- Fish fact challenge. Give students a fact and see if they can match it with the correct fish flashcard. For example, this is the fastest fish on earth, this fact should be matched with the sailfish.
- Fish who am I. Ask a learner to describe a fish and see if the rest of the class can guess what it is.
- Fish odd one out. Give learner 3 or 4 fish flashcards and ask them which one is different to the others and why so.
- Fish aquarium/ Fish farm building. Ask students to create a fish aquarium or farm and select what species they would choose to join each other and then explain why. They can also create posters using the fish cards to decorate this project if it is written.
Related activities
If you enjoyed the free printable fish flashcards, you will no doubt want to have a look at the ocean animal cards which are also PDF pages.
You can also check out similar animal flashcards such as the forest animal flashcards and the jungle animal flashcards.
For arts and crafts there are free fish outlines and templates as well as easy fish drawing step by step instructions.
