Fundulus

Fundulus
Northern Studfish (Fundulus catenatus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cyprinodontiformes
Suborder:	Cyprinodontoidei
Superfamily:	Funduloidea
Family:	Fundulidae
Genus:	Fundulus Lacépède, 1803
Species
See text.

Fundulus is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the superfamily Funduloidea, family Fundulidae (of which it is the type genus). They belong to the order of toothcarps (Cyprinodontiformes), and therein the large suborder Cyprinodontoidei. Most of their closest living relatives are egg-lying, with the notable exception of the splitfin livebearers (Goodeidae).

They are usually smallish, most species reaching a length of at most 4 in (10 cm) when fully adult. However, a few larger species exist, with the Giant Killifish (F. grandissimus) and the Northern Studfish (F. catenatus) growing to twice the genus' average size.

Many of the 40-odd species are commonly known by the highly ambiguous name "killifish" (the general term for egg-laying toothcarps), or the somewhat less ambiguous "topminnow" (a catch-all term for Fundulidae). Studfish is a quite unequivocal vernacular name applied to some other Fundulus; it is not usually used to refer to the genus as a whole however.

Species

Russetfin Topminnow (Fundulus escambiae)

As of early 2011, FishBase lists 40 species, one of which went extinct in recent times; on average, 1-2 new species are being discovered and described every decade:

• Fundulus albolineatus – Whiteline Topminnow (extinct)
• Fundulus auroguttatus (Hay, 1885)
• Fundulus bermudae – Bermuda Killifish
• Fundulus bifax – Stippled Studfish
• Fundulus blairae Wiley & Hall, 1975 – Western Starhead Topminnow
• Fundulus catenatus (Storer, 1846) – Northern Studfish
• Fundulus chrysotus – Golden Topminnow
• Fundulus cingulatus Valenciennes, 1846 – Banded Topminnow
• Fundulus confluentus Goode & Bean, 1879 – Marsh Killifish (= F. bartrami, F. chaplini, F. ocellaris)
• Fundulus diaphanus – Banded Killifish (sometimes in F. heteroclitus)
• Fundulus dispar (Agassiz, 1854) – Starhead Topminnow
• Fundulus escambiae (Bollman, 1887) – Russetfin Topminnow
• Fundulus euryzonus Suttkus & Cashner, 1981 – Broadstripe Topminnow
• Fundulus grandis Baird & Girard, 1853 – Gulf Killifish (= F. floridensis, F. pallidus)
• Fundulus grandissimus Hubbs, 1936 – Giant Killifish
• Fundulus heteroclitus – Mummichog
• Fundulus jenkinsi – Saltmarsh Topminnow
• Fundulus julisia – Barrens Topminnow
• Fundulus kansae Garman, 1895 – Northern Plains Killifish
• Fundulus lima Vaillant, 1894

• Fundulus lineolatus – Lined Topminnow
• Fundulus luciae (Baird, 1855) – Spotfin Killifish
• Fundulus majalis – Striped Killifish, Striped Mummichog
• Fundulus notatus – Blackstripe Topminnow
• Fundulus notti (Agassiz, 1854) – Bayou Topminnow
• Fundulus olivaceus (Storer, 1845) – Blackspotted Topminnow
• Fundulus parvipinnis – California Killifish
• Fundulus persimilis Miller, 1955 – Yucatan Killifish
• Fundulus philpisteri García-Ramírez, Contreras-Balderas & Lozano-Vilano, 2007
• Fundulus pulvereus (Evermann, 1892) – Bayou Killifish (= F. limbatus, F. spilotus)
• Fundulus rathbuni Jordan & Meek, 1889 – Speckled Killifish
• Fundulus relictus Able & Felley, 1988 – Lover's Lake Killifish (formerly in F. bermudae)
• Fundulus rubrifrons (Jordan, 1880) – Redface Topminnow
• Fundulus saguanus Rivas, 1948
• Fundulus sciadicus Cope, 1865 – Plains Topminnow
• Fundulus seminolis Girard, 1859 – Seminole Killifish
• Fundulus similis (Baird & Girard, 1853) – Longnose Killifish
• Fundulus stellifer (Jordan, 1877) – Southern Studfish
• Fundulus waccamensis – Waccamaw Killifish
• Fundulus zebrinus Jordan & Gilbert, 1883 – Plains Killifish (= F. adinia, F. zebra)

Formerly placed in Fundulus were the closely related Diamond Killifish (Adinia xenica) and the somewhat more distantly related Cuban Killifish (Cubanichthys cubensis, a pupfish).

References

• FishBase [2011]: Fundulus species. Retrieved 2011-FEB-11.