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They’re so small, they’d fit on your fingertip. 
And yet tiny fishes are big players in ensuring freshwater ecosystems are healthy: they recycle nutrients and act as essential bioindicators.
They are incredibly diverse, frequently restricted to ranges that match their tiny size, and often sit right at the heart of the ecosystems they inhabit. What makes them so essential is their place in the food web. Small fishes convert algae, plankton, detritus and small invertebrates into energy that supports everything above them. Take them away and you remove the foundation that larger fishes, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals rely on.
Yet they are doubly neglected; firstly, by being in a species group that has historically received very little attention, and secondly by being often overlooked even within that overlooked and underfunded group.
SHOAL’s new report Tiny Fishes: the miniature marvels that slip through the net celebrates these fintastic little fishes. It shines a light on species that have been sidelined, even within a conservation sector already fighting for attention, and celebrates them in their small, surprisingly complex glory. It’s about showing their conservation is desperately needed. And that conservation action would be highly effective if it received the resources it needs. As well as a celebration, Tiny Fishes is a plea for targeted conservation action for some of the world’s most threatened species, that also happen to be among the most cost effective to save. 
This report will place tiny fishes firmly in the conservation conversation. By documenting their ecological roles, threats, adaptations and cultural connections, it aims to ensure these species are not lost simply because they are small. Tiny fishes aren’t likely to dominate the headlines. But they matter. Paying attention to them isn’t a niche concern: it’s essential if we’re serious about reversing the decline of freshwater biodiversity.
Dive into the world of Tiny Fishes here!
A call to action
Tiny fishes have swam under the radar, and not just because they compete for attention with larger, more familiar or more charismatic species. A two-centimetre fish can quite literally slip through the net, and as such, our conservation attention.
There are 295 fishes under 40 mm on SHOAL’s Priority Fishes list. Of those:
- 94 are Critically Endangered
- 142 are Endangered
- 2 are Extinct in the Wild
- 57 are Vulnerable
Most of them do not have any conservation action in place.
To accompany our Tiny Fishes Report, SHOAL is calling for action for tiny fishes across the globe. If you’re working on, or would like to work on a tiny fish, we would love to hear from you.
Fortunately, one of the tiny fishes featured in our report, the Critically Endangered Coral Red Pencilfish (Nannostomus mortenthaleri), is already the focus of a conservation project led by Amazon Research Center for Ornamental Fishes (ARCOF). This initiative integrates science-based conservation, national policy engagement, and community-driven livelihood solutions. However, the project urgently needs support. The details of the project can be found here.
images: top – Indonesian Superdwarf Fish, Paedocyprus progenetica © Lukas Rüber // bottom – Trichonis Dwarf Goby, Economidichthys trichonis © Jörg Freyhof
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