AquariumReference.org - Marine Aquarium Species Database

Welcome To AquariumReference.org

The purpose of this website is to provide necessary information on the identification, behavior and care of the animals we keep in our aquariums. And to provide information on which animals are best kept in captivity and those not suited for aquarium keeping. My main interest is marine aquaria, but in the future, I may cover freshwater more thoroughly.

My primary focus is on education and conservation. To successfully keep animals in our aquariums it is our responsibility to recreate the animal's natural environment as closely as possible, so the animals not only survive, but thrive. In order to help protect our natural environments I strongly believe in keeping captive raised animals whenever possible. More and more captive raised marine fish and invertebrates are becoming available every day.

Although this website is directed towards aquarium hobbyists, the information that it provides is useful for scuba divers, educators, researchers, and anyone else who has an interest in marine animals.

For more information about me and this website see the About This Site page.

What's New (Last 90 Days)

	7117 Photograph(s) Have Been Added
	3378 Species Have Been Added Or Updated
	4 Article(s) Have Been Added

12/27/2010	140 Photos Added I've added 140 new fish photos taken by Richard Field. All images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Images can be freely copied and altered but may be used only for non-commercial purposes. Original author and source must be properly acknowledged. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/26/2010	AquaMaps Added I've added AquaMaps to 2654 species. AquaMaps are a great tool and help you to visualize where species are found in the wild. Maps are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Images can be freely copied and altered but may be used only for non-commercial purposes. Original author and source must be properly acknowledged. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/26/2010	Updated Families I have updated the Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes, Tangs, and Unicornfishes), Antennariidae (Frogfishes) and Apogonidae (Cardinalfishes) families. The Family Summary page now displays thumbnails of the most common species within the family. All families need updating so that the best photos are displayed. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/25/2010	Faster Species Library Pages I am now utilizing QuesTronix Software's xGen Technology much more effectively. The core pages in the Species Library should now download much faster. AquariumReference.org is very database intensive and xGen Technology effectively elliminates all database access on thousands of pages. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/21/2010	Photo Rating System Added I've implemented a rating system on photos. Ratings are displayed with 5 stars (). The rating system is based on values from 1-5 and how many times a photo gets rated. The rating system is designed so that the photos that get rated the most with the highest values will be displayed more prominently throughout the website. Your input counts, so please rate photos often. You must be a member to rate photos. You can rate as many photos as you want, but you can only rate an individual photo once per day. To rate a photo, either click on the 5 stars or any photo's thumbnail image. Note: Currently most photos have a rating of: 0 - Not Rated, so better quality photos may not be displayed on some pages. Once more photos recieve ratings, better quality photos will automatically be displayed. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/19/2010	6369 Fish Photos Added I've added 6369 new fish photos taken by John E. Randall. All images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Images can be freely copied and altered but may be used only for non-commercial purposes. Original author and source must be properly acknowledged. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)
12/19/2010	601 Fish Drawings Added I've added 601 new fish drawing from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). All images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License. Images can be freely copied and altered but may be used only for non-commercial purposes. Original author and source must be properly acknowledged. - Cliff Dugan (AquariumReference.org)

This website is made possible by individual contributions and I am always looking for new photographs and articles. For more information on submitting photographs, articles or to make comments and suggestions for the library please visit the Making Contributions page.