Cuban gambusia

The Cuban gambusia, spotted gambusia or blue gambusia (Gambusia punctata) is a species of freshwaterfish. It is a member of the familyPoeciliidae of orderCyprinodontiformes, and is the type species of its genus. It is native to Cuba, inhabiting lakes, ponds and streams, including mountain streams. A carnivorous surface feeder, it occurs in shoals near the shoreline. It be found in estuarine habitat.

This species has the terminal, upward-facing mouth typical of surface feeders, and a protruding belly. It has four or five rows of darkly spotted scales, possibly forming a dark lateral stripe in the case of the midline row. The dorsal and caudal fins are typically partially spotted. Males reach a maximum standard length (SL) of around 4.8 cm, with females reaching about 7.0 cm. The recorded SL for this species is 10 cm.

Gambusia punctata is part of a species complex including G. rhizophorae, , and . Additional cryptic species have been proposed to exist within the range of G. punctata on the basis of mitochondrial haplogroup data.