Fishes of Texas Project Database (Version 3.0)

Hendrickson, Dean A.; Cohen, Adam E.

doi:10.17603/C3WC70

Fundulus similis

Longnose Killifish

Credit: Garold Sneegas

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Life

Animalia

Chordata

Actinopterygii

Cyprinodontiformes

Fundulidae (Topminnows)

Fundulus

Fundulus similis (Longnose Killifish)

Description

All text below is derived from a January 2013 copy of Dr. Timothy Bonner's website at Texas State University. That content was derived primarily from published literature. We are aware of some conflicts with the museum record and the content below will evolve as the new, expanded UT and Texas State Fishes of Texas project team members are able to update it. We invite collaborations to improve and expand the species account content. Please contact us if you wish to help, or if you discover flaws in our species account content that you can address.

Type Locality

Near Indianola, Texas (Baird and Girard 1853).

Etymology/Derivation of Scientific Name

Synonymy

Hydrargyra similis Baird and Girard (1853).

Fundulus similis insularis

Fundulus insularis

Fundulus similis Nelson et al. 2004:217.

Characters

Maximum size:

Coloration: Body with about 10 dark bars, the last with dark spot dorsally; body without a distinct dark lateral band (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Counts: 31-39 longitudinal scale rows (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Body shape: Eye goes more than 1.5 times in snout; distance from origin of dorsal fin to end of hypural plate less than distance from origin of dorsal fin to preopercle or occasionally about equal to that distance (Hubbs et al. 2008).

External morphology: Gill slit extending dorsal to uppermost pectoral fin ray (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Distribution (Native and Introduced)

U.S. distribution: Most commonly found in coastal waters from northeastern Florida to northeastern Mexico, however, individuals may penetrate short distances upstream in coastal rivers (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Texas distribution: May travel short distances upstream in coastal rivers (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Abundance/Conservation status (Federal, State, NGO)

Habitat Associations

Macrohabitat: Marine (Hubbs et al. 2008).

Mesohabitat:

Biology

Spawning season:

Spawning habitat:

Spawning Behavior:

Fecundity:

Age at maturation:

Migration:

Growth and Population structure:

Longevity:

Food habits:

Phylogeny and morphologically similar fishes

Host Records

Commercial or Environmental Importance

References

Baird, S.F., and C. Girard. 1853. Descriptions of new species of fishes collected by Mr. John H. Clark, on the U. S. and Mexican Boundary Survey, under Lt. Col. Jas. D. Graham. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6(7):387-390.

Hubbs, C., R.J. Edwards, and G.P. Garrett. 2008. An annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Texas, with keys to identification of species. Texas Journal of Science, Supplement, 2^nd edition 43(4):1-87.

Motta, P.J., K.B. Clifton, P. Hernandez, and B.T. Eggold. 1995. Feeding relationships among nine species of seagrass fishes of Tampa Bay, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 56(1):185-200.

Nelson, J.S., E.J. Crossman, H. Espinoza-Perez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, R.N. Lea, and J.D. Williams. 2004. Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland.

Relyea, K. 1983. A systematic study of two species complexes of the genus Fundulus (Pisces: Cyorinodontidae). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum. Biological Sciences. 29(1):1-64.