The pike topminnow (''Belonesox belizanus''), more commonly known as pike killifish and sometimes referred to as topminnow, is a species of poeciliid found from Mexico to Nicaragua. It has also been introduced to Florida, USA. It is the only known member of its genus. The pike topminnow was described in 1860 by

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ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Rudolf Kner, who gave the type locality as Belize, which is reflected in this species'

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Ecology

Unlike most poeciliids (which tend to be generalists or micropredators), this is a highly specialized predator, with an extremely flexible upper jaw that enables it to take very large prey items for its size.

Description

It grows typically to total length, exceptionally to . It has an elongated appearance with a flat back profile. The lower jaw is longer than the upper, and upturned. The pike topminnow has large eyes and a dorsal fin set far back on the body. It is a light, olive/brown color with light green iridescence and small black spots on the flanks. The belly is a lighter yellowish white. A dark spot is at the base of the caudal fin. They are also a livebearing fish.

In the aquarium

This fish can be found in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade, but is not an easy aquarium resident, especially by poeciliid standards.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1535154 Poeciliidae Freshwater fish of Mexico Freshwater fish of Central America Taxa named by Rudolf Kner Fish described in 1860 Live-bearing fish