An average of 7.6 M individual fishes, representing 1.8 K species from 125 distinct fish families, are imported into the U.S. annually for the marine aquarium trade. While many wild-caught species are traded annually, there are only ~39 commercial aquaculture businesses in the U.S. (2020), and 96 species commercially available as aquacultured. This study presents a data-driven framework to empower the selection of species to target for aquaculture research and development. The framework is based on species-specific data for 105 of the top 130 species imported into the U.S., including market characteristics (aquarium suitability, number of imports, retail price), aquaculture practicality (demersal/pelagic spawning strategy, pelagic larval duration, size at hatch), and conservation assessment (aquacultured status, ecological niche, geographic distribution, and mid-depth). A principal components analysis revealed that fish species which feature life history characteristics conducive to practical aquaculture efforts also either 1) demonstrate favorable market characteristics, or 2) are vulnerable to overfishing and thus merit the effort from a conservation perspective. Conversely, fish species whose life history characteristics render them challenging to aquaculture also either 1) demonstrate less favorable market characteristics, or 2) also demonstrate life history characteristics that equip them with resiliency to overfishing and thus may best be prioritized for wild collection under sound fisheries management.