Fundulidae is the family of topminnows and North American

killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

es.

Distribution

The 46 species are native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

as far south as Yucatan, and to the islands of

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and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, occurring in both freshwater and marine environments.

Description

Most members of the family are all small. While the giant killifish (''Fundulus grandissimus'') and

northern studfish The northern studfish (''Fundulus catenatus'') is the largest of the killifish and is native to the southcentral United States. Appearance and anatomy The mean length for adults is . Northern studfish are sexually dimorphic. Males have horizonta ...

(''Fundulus catenatus'') can reach in length, most species are under 10 cm in length. The distinguishing characteristic of the family is the

maxillary bone The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

, which is twisted instead of being straight. While many species of the Fundulidae are listed as not threatened, there are some that are listed as endangered because of their environment. Many common species of the Fundulidae live in North America such as the United States and Mexico. They live in different ecosystem such as costal marshes, lagoons, rivers, streams with high elevations with clear water, and muddy conditions at lower elevation. They are able to adapt to different conditions which is increasing their survival rate.

Genera

There are three genera in the family Fundulidae: * ''

Fundulus ''Fundulus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the superfamily Funduloidea, family Fundulidae (of which it is the type genus). It belongs to the order of toothcarps (Cyprinodontiformes), and therein the large suborder Cyprinodontoidei. Most of ...

'' Lacepède 1803 * '' Leptolucania'' Myers, 1924 * ''

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Bruttiu ...

'' Girard, 1859

References

Ray-finned fish families Cyprinodontiformes Fish of North America Fish of the Caribbean Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub