Fundulus diaphanus
Banded Killifish
NS
G5
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Cyprinodontiformes
Fundulidae (Topminnows)
Fundulus
Fundulus diaphanus (Banded Killifish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
North America: Atlantic Slope drainages from Newfoundland in Canada to Peedee River in South Carolina, USA; St. Lawrence-Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Manitoba in Canada, and south to southern Pennsylvania, northern Illinois and northeastern Nebraska in the USA. Two subspecies were recognized: Fundulus diaphanus diaphanus on Atlantic Slope; and Fundulus diaphanus menona found elsewhere.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish. benthopelagic. Found in: streams, lakes, estuaries.
Biology
Inhabits shallow, quiet margins of lakes, ponds and sluggish streams, usually over sand or mud and often near vegetation. Enters brackish water. Forms schools a few inches below surface of water (Ref. 5723, 86798). Euryhaline and salinity-tolerant (Ref. 5951). Feeds on small crustaceans, mollusks and worms (Ref. 93252). Not a seasonal killifish. Is easy to maintain in the aquarium (Ref. 27139).
Max length: 13.0 cm TL; common length: 6.2 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-01-30. Resilience: High (tm<1).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl (1985) Aquarien atlas. Band 2. Mergus, Verlag für Natur-und Heimtierkunde GmbH, Melle, Germany. 1216 p.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Johnson, J.H. and D.S. Dropkin (1993) Diel variation in diet composition of a riverine fish community. Hydrobiologia 271(3):149-158.
Yozzo, D.J. and W.E. Odum (1993) Fish predation on epiphytic microcrustacea in Tivoli South Bay, a Hudson River tidal freshwater wetland. Hydrobiologia 257(1):37-46.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (2011) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p.
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