What Is the Plural of Fish? Fish vs. Fishes Explained

The usual plural of fish is fish. You can say one fish, two fish, or hundreds of fish without changing the word.

Fishes is also correct, but it is less common in everyday English. It is most often used when different species or kinds of fish are being discussed.

What Is the Plural of Fish?

The word fish normally has the same singular and plural form:

• one fish
• two fish
• several fish
• many fish

For example:

• There is one fish in the bowl.
• There are four fish in the bowl.
• We saw several fish near the shore.

This unchanged plural is the standard choice when counting individual animals. Major dictionaries list both fish and fishes as accepted plurals, but fish is much more common.

Fish vs. Fishes

The difference between fish and fishes usually depends on what the sentence emphasizes.

Form	Usual meaning	Example
Fish	More than one individual animal	Six fish are swimming in the pond.
Fishes	Different species, kinds, or biological groups	The river contains several native fishes.

When to Use Fish

Use fish when talking about multiple individual animals. Their species may be the same, different, or simply unimportant to the sentence.

• Ten fish live in the aquarium.
• Small fish gathered near the surface.
• We saw colorful fish around the reef.
• The birds were feeding on fish.

In all of these examples, the focus is on the animals themselves rather than their scientific classification.

When to Use Fishes

Use fishes when emphasizing different species, varieties, or groups. This usage is particularly common in biology, ecology, and environmental writing.

• The book describes the freshwater fishes of Europe.
• The reef supports many rare fishes.
• Scientists are studying the deep-sea fishes of the Pacific.
• Several native fishes are threatened by habitat loss.

The distinction is not an absolute rule. Fishes can occasionally refer to multiple individual specimens in specialized writing, but most people should use fish when simply counting animals.

Can You Say Two Fishes?

Two fishes is grammatically possible, but it usually sounds specialized. It may suggest two species or kinds of fish rather than two individual animals.

For example:

• The study compares two closely related fishes.

This sentence is likely discussing two species. To count two individual animals, write:

• Two fish were swimming near the rocks.

The same pattern applies to other numbers:

• five fish
• twenty fish
• one hundred fish

Is Fishes a Real Word?

Yes, fishes is a standard English word. It is not a spelling error, even though it appears less often than fish.

As a noun, it may refer to different species or kinds:

• The museum has a collection of prehistoric fishes.

Fishes can also be a verb. It is the third-person singular form of fish:

• He fishes from the pier every weekend.
• Maria fishes in the lake during the summer.

The sentence usually makes it clear whether fishes is being used as a noun or a verb.

Is Fish Countable or Uncountable?

Fish can be either countable or uncountable, depending on its meaning.

It is countable when referring to individual animals:

• I saw a fish in the stream.
• Three fish escaped from the net.

It is often uncountable when referring to food:

• We ate fish for dinner.
• She does not eat fish.

In the food examples, the speaker is not counting whole animals. The word refers generally to fish as something people eat.

What Is the Plural of Goldfish?

The usual plural of goldfish is also goldfish:

• She owns one goldfish.
• She owns four goldfish.

Several other names of fish commonly remain unchanged in the plural:

• one cod, several cod
• one salmon, several salmon
• one trout, several trout

However, this pattern does not apply to every aquatic animal. Words such as shark, eel, and ray normally form their plurals by adding -s.

The Possessive Forms of Fish

A plural shows that there is more than one animal. A possessive shows ownership or association.

Fish’s

Use fish’s for something belonging to one fish:

• The fish’s tail was injured.
• The fish’s color changed as it grew.

Because the plural fish does not end in s, fish’s can also be a plural possessive:

• The fish’s feeding patterns were recorded.

That sentence could refer to one fish or several fish, so clearer wording may be better:

• The feeding patterns of the fish were recorded.

Fishes’

Fishes’ is the possessive form of the plural noun fishes:

• The fishes’ habitats vary by species.

This form is uncommon outside scientific or technical contexts.

Fish Plural Examples

• One fish was hiding beneath the plant.
• Several fish swam past the boat.
• Those fish have bright orange markings.
• The lake contains many different fish.
• The scientist studies the fishes of the Amazon basin.
• Some reef fishes live in very shallow water.

Final Summary

The normal plural of fish is fish:

• one fish
• two fish
• many fish

Fishes is also correct, but it is mainly used when different species or kinds are being emphasized, especially in scientific writing.

For ordinary sentences involving more than one individual animal, fish is the natural choice.