Fish ASCII Art: From ><> to a Full Aquarium
Fish ASCII art to copy: the tiny ><> fish, the ><(((º> fish, a school of fish and a whole aquarium scene, plus why the direction of the arrow matters.
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A small aquarium
Copy this monospace text art for Discord, code comments or terminal banners.
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o ><(((º>
° ><> o
<>< ><>
<º)))>< °
_/\__/\___ ._/\_____/\__/\__The smallest fish in text
The three-character fish ><> is probably the most typed piece of ASCII art after the heart. The > on the left is the tail fin and the <> on the right is the body, so ><> swims to the right and <>< swims to the left.
<>< is also the outline of the ichthys, the fish symbol early Christians used and that you still see on car bumpers, which is why that direction appears more often in some communities. Both are the same art; only the direction differs.
Bigger fish, one size at a time
Add brackets to give the fish ribs and scales. Every extra bracket makes it longer:
><>
><(((>
><(((º>
><((((((º>
<º)))><
<º))))))><
The º is the eye (a masculine ordinal sign on most keyboards: Alt+0186 on Windows, Option+0 on a Mac). If you need pure ASCII, use an o or a degree-free version like ><(((o>.
To draw a school, repeat small fish on staggered lines, keep them all pointing the same way, and add bubbles with o, ° and . above them, as in the aquarium at the top of the page. Wavy water uses tildes, and a sandy bottom works with underscores and /\ for rocks.
Converting a fish photo
Fish photos are often taken through glass with a busy background, which the converter cannot separate from the fish. Pick a side view on a plain background, crop tightly, and keep the tool at around 60 characters wide. A strongly striped fish such as a clownfish converts better than a silver one, because the stripes survive as contrast.
Frequently asked questions
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