Resource directory
Use an app to name the fish, a reference database to confirm the scientific name, and your state's or country's regulations for what you can keep. This directory lists each kind and says which is which.
Identification apps
Global Fishing League
Names 297 species from a photo, measures the length from the same photo and logs the catch with its conditions. Catch locations are never shown to other anglers. Free on iPhone and Android.
Read the profileFishing appFishbrain
A fishing app with a catch feed, maps and FishID photo identification. Pro shows other users' exact catch locations.
Open Fishbrain ↗Community identificationiNaturalist
Identifies every kind of living thing. It suggests a species from your photo, and other users can confirm it.
Open iNaturalist ↗Reference databases
Global Fishing League species guide
Written identification pages for 124 species, with side-by-side comparisons of the fish anglers mix up most.
Open the species guide ↗Scientific databaseFishBase
A global database of fish species: scientific and common names, distribution, biology and photos.
Open FishBase ↗Scientific namesITIS
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System, a US government source for accepted scientific names.
Open ITIS ↗Regulations
Seasons, length limits and bag limits are set species by species, by your state's fish and wildlife agency for inland and state waters, and by federal rules further offshore. Check them before you keep a fish.
Licences and regulations by state
Take Me Fishing, run by the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, links to each state's licence and regulations pages.
Find your state ↗US federal watersNOAA Fisheries recreational fishing
Federal rules for saltwater species in US federal waters.
Open NOAA Fisheries ↗Keep reading
Cite this entry
Global Fishing League. “Resource directory.” Best Fish Identification, updated 9 November 2026.https://bestfishidentification.com/resources/