Fish That Start With C

26 fish Animals and nature Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 26 fish that start with C, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

There are 26 C fish here. The cod, carp and catfish are common food fish, and the clownfish is the small orange and white reef fish that lives among sea anemones, a sure hit with kids.

The coelacanth is the great surprise: scientists thought it had died out long ago until living ones were found. Sharks take several names, including the carpet shark, cat shark and cow shark. Salmon fans will spot the chinook salmon and the coho. The croaker is named for the croaking noise it makes, and the climbing perch can breathe air.

Fish starting with C: 26
Best known: cod, catfish
Longest name: channel catfish

Best-known fish that start with C

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

cod
catfish
carp
coelacanth
chinook salmon
clownfish

All fish that start with C

#	Name	What it is
1	caplin	very small northern fish; forage for sea birds and marine mammals and other fishes
2	carp	any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae
3	carpet shark	shark of the western Pacific with flattened body and mottled skin
4	cat shark	small bottom-dwelling sharks with cat-like eyes; found along continental slopes
5	catfish	large ferocious northern deep-sea food fishes with strong teeth and no pelvic fins
6	cero	large edible mackerel of temperate United States coastal Atlantic waters
7	channel bass	large edible fish found off coast of United States from Massachusetts to Mexico
8	channel catfish	freshwater food fish common throughout central United States
9	char	any of several small trout-like fish of the genus Salvelinus
10	chimaera	a deep-sea fish with a tapering body, smooth skin, and long threadlike tail
11	chinook salmon	large Pacific salmon valued as food; adults die after spawning
12	chub	European freshwater game fish with a thick spindle-shaped body
13	chum salmon	a large Pacific salmon with small spots on its back; an important food fish
14	cichlid	freshwater fishes of tropical America and Africa and Asia similar to American sunfishes
15	cisco	important food fish of cold deep lakes of North America
16	climbing perch	a small perch of India whose gills are modified to allow it to breathe air
17	clownfish	small orange and white reef fish living in sea anemones
18	cobia	large dark-striped tropical food and game fish related to remoras; found worldwide in coastal to open waters
19	cod	major food fish of Arctic and cold-temperate waters
20	coelacanth	fish thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous period but found in 1938 off the coast of Africa
21	coho	small salmon of northern Pacific coasts and the Great Lakes
22	conger	large dark-colored scaleless marine eel found in temperate and tropical coastal waters; some used for food
23	cow shark	large primitive shark widely distributed in warm seas
24	crappie	small sunfishes of central United States rivers
25	croaker	any of several fishes that make a croaking noise
26	cusk	large edible marine fish of northern coastal waters; related to cod

Short fish with C

cod
carp
cisco
char
chub
coho
cero
cobia
cusk

Questions people ask

How many fish start with C?

This list has 26 fish starting with C, from well-known ones like cod, catfish, carp to rarer kinds.

What fish start with C?

Well-known examples are cod, catfish, carp, coelacanth, chinook salmon, clownfish.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

See every letter on one page: fish A to Z