List of largest fish

vary greatly in size. The extant whale shark and basking shark exceed all other fish by a considerable margin in weight and length. The extinct Otodus megalodon exceeds all other fish, extant and extinct, in size. Fish in the common usage are a paraphyletic group that describes aquatic vertebrates while excluding the tetrapods, four limbed vertebrates nested within the lobe-finned fish, which include all land vertebrates and their nearest extinct relatives.
This list therefore excludes the various marine reptiles and mammals, such as the extinct ichthyosaur, plesiosaur and mosasaur reptiles and the extant sirenia and cetacea mammals.

Largest extant fish

Rank	Name	Binomial name	Taxonomic class	Known maximum mass	Maximum length	Images	Size comparison to human
1	Whale shark	Rhincodon typus	Chondrichthyes		18.8 metres
2	Basking shark	Cetorhinus maximus	Chondrichthyes
3	Great white shark	Carcharodon carcharias	Chondrichthyes
4	Tiger shark	Galeocerdo cuvier	Chondrichthyes
5	Giant oceanic manta ray	Mobula birostris	Chondrichthyes
6	Giant sunfish	Mola alexandrini	Osteichthyes
7	Ocean sunfish	Mola mola	Osteichthyes
8	Beluga sturgeon	Huso huso	Osteichthyes
9	Sharptail mola	Masturus lanceolatus	Osteichthyes
10	Hoodwinker sunfish	Mola tecta	Osteichthyes
11	Reef manta ray	Manta alfredi	Chondrichthyes
12	Greenland shark	Somniosus microcephalus	Chondrichthyes
13	Megamouth shark	Megachasma pelagios	Chondrichthyes
14	Kaluga	Sinosturio dauricus	Osteichthyes

Jawless fish (Agnatha)

Hagfish
Lampreys

File:Sea Lamprey fish.jpg|thumb|Sea lamprey feeding on a lake trout

Armored fish (Placodermi)

The largest fish of the now-extinct class Placodermi was the giant predatory Dunkleosteus. The largest and most well-known species was D. terrelli, which grew almost in length Engelman, using an ellipsoid volumetric method, estimated weights of 950–1,200 kilograms for typical adult Dunkleosteus, and weights of 1,494–1,764 kilograms for the largest individual. Its filter feeding relative, Titanichthys, may have rivaled it in size. Titanichthys reached a length of though in older paper it was estimated at. However, according to a 2023 paper, it would have been the same size as Dunkleosteus.

Cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes)

The cartilaginous fish are not directly related to the "bony fish," but are sometimes lumped together for simplicity in description. The largest living cartilaginous fish, of the order Orectolobiformes, is the whale shark, of the world's tropical oceans. It is also the largest living animal that is not a cetacean and, like the largest whales, it is a docile creature that filter-feeds on tiny plankton. An average adult of this species measures long and weighs an average of 9 tonnes. The largest verified specimen was caught in 1949 off Karachi, Pakistan and was long and weighed. Although many are dubious, there are several reports of larger whale sharks, with reliable sources citing unverified specimens of up to and or possibly up to.
The extinct Megalodon is estimated to have been the largest cartilaginous fish as well as largest non-tetrapod fish. It was macropredatory feeding mainly on marine mammals. With maximum total length estimates ranging from.

Ground sharks
Chimaeras
Frill sharks and cow sharks
Bullhead sharks
Mackerel sharks
Stingrays and allies

File:Manta birostris-Thailand.jpg|thumb|The manta ray, here seen at Hin Daeng, Thailand, is the largest ray.

Carpet sharks
Sawfish
Sawsharks
Skates and allies
Dogfish and allies
Angelsharks
'''Electric rays'''
Spiny sharks (Acanthodii)

The largest of the now-extinct Acanthodii was Xylacanthus grandis, an ischnacanthiform based on a ~ long jaw bone. Based on the proportions of its relative Ischnacanthus, X. grandis had an estimated total length of.

Bony fish (Osteichthyes)

Ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii)

The largest living bony fish are the lesser known southern sunfish also known as the giant sunfish, followed by widely distributed and better known ocean sunfish and, both being members of the order Tetraodontiformes. The largest verified specimen belongs to the southern sunfish discovered dead near the Azores in the Atlantic has set the record for being the largest extant bony fish with the weight of. The record size ocean sunfish crashed into a boat off Bird Island, Australia in 1910 and measured from fin-to-fin, in length and weighed about, while the other record for the biggest bony fish is yet held by a Mola alexandrini which was also coincidentally in mass and in length, caught off in 1996 and misidentified as a Mola mola.
As for length, the longest extant bony fish on earth is the giant oarfish. Slender and compressed, it averages over long at maturity. A specimen caught in 1885 of in length weighed. The longest known example, which was hit by a steamship, was measured as long.
Much larger bony fish existed prehistorically, the largest ever known having been Leedsichthys of the Jurassic period. This species is certainly the largest bony fish ever and one of the largest non-cetacean marine animals to have ever existed. Estimates of the size of this fish range from and mass from 20 to 50 tons. A maximum size of and 25–30 tons had been deemed to be most realistic. However, a 2013 study which estimated the maximum size of the animal based on the largest specimens it is estimated that Leedsichthys would have a maximum length of and a maximum weight of.

Sturgeons and paddlefishes
Bonefish
Bowfins
Eels
Silversides
Barreleyes, slickheads and argentines
Jellynose fishes
Grinners and lizard fish
Toadfish
Flying-fish and allies
Squirrelfish
Whalefish
Characins
Herring
Minnows and allies
Pikes and allies
Killifish and allies
Ladyfish and allies
Cod
Sticklebacks and allies
Clingfish
Shellears and allies
Knifefish
Mooneyes
Ribbonfish and allies
Gars
Anglerfish
Lanternfish
Mullets
Pearlfish and allies
Smelts and allies
Bony-tongued fish
Perches and allies

File:Atlantic blue marlin.jpg|thumb|The Atlantic blue marlin is one of the largest species of the perch-like fish.

Trout-perch and allies
Flatfish
Beardfish
Polypterids and allies
Gulper eels
Salmon and allies
Sculpins, Lionfish, Rockfish, and allies
Catfish
Ridgeheads and allies
Bristlemouths
Swamp-eels
Seahorses and allies
Pufferfishes and allies
'''Dories'''
Lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii)

The largest living lobe-finned fish is the coelacanth. The average weight of the living West Indian Ocean coelacanth,, is, and they can reach up to in length. Specimens can weigh up to. The largest lobe-finned fish of all time was Rhizodus at up to.

'''Lungfish'''