Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) >
Fundulidae (Topminnows and killifishes)
Etymology: Fundulus: Latin, fundus = bottom; a peculiar name for a topminnow, coined for a bottom species of Atlantic coast being "the abode of the fundulus mudfish" (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lesueur.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; non-migratory. Temperate; 10°C - 25°C (Ref. 2060); 54°N - 34°N
North America: Atlantic Slope drainages from Newfoundland in Canada to Peedee River in South Carolina, USA; St. Lawrence-Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Manitoba in Canada, and south to southern Pennsylvania, northern Illinois and northeastern Nebraska in the USA. Two subspecies were recognized: Fundulus diaphanus diaphanus on Atlantic Slope; and Fundulus diaphanus menona found elsewhere.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 13.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 6.3 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)
Inhabits shallow, quiet margins of lakes, ponds and sluggish streams, usually over sand or mud and often near vegetation. Enters brackish water. Forms schools a few inches below surface of water (Ref. 5723, 86798). Euryhaline and salinity-tolerant (Ref. 5951). Feeds on small crustaceans, mollusks and worms (Ref. 93252). Not a seasonal killifish. Is easy to maintain in the aquarium (Ref. 27139).
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial; bait: usually
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00631 (0.00292 - 0.01365), b=3.10 (2.91 - 3.29), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.3 ±0.2 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
