Menidia clarkhubbsi
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Atheriniformes (Silversides)
Atherinopsidae (New World Silversides)
Menidia
Menidia clarkhubbsi (Texas Silverside)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Slender, elongate, and moderately compressed posteriorly, with a spinous dorsal fin originating anterior to anus and a relatively long anal fin. Mouth is oblique, and lower jaw is equal to or extends slightly beyond upper jaw. Posterior margin of premaxilla is rounded. Jaw teeth are small and arranged in two rows. Snout length is 5.8% to 7.1%, head length is 24% to 27.6%, body depth is 16.9% to 18.9%, snout to first dorsal fin origin is 51% to 54.9%, horizontal distance between first dorsal fin origin and anal fin origin is 2.6% to 8.3%, snout to second dorsal fin origin is 66% to 70.4%, and snout to anal fin origin is 55.8% to 60.5% of SL. Pectoral fin extends beyond pelvic fin insertion and has one unbranched ray and 12 to 14 branched rays. First dorsal fin has four to six spines, and second dorsal fin has one spine and 7 to 9 (generally 8) rays. Anal fin has one spine and 16 to 18 rays, and originates below or posterior to last precaudal vertebra. Posterior end of body cavity ends above or posterior to anal fin origin. Lateral line scales number 38 to 40, and predorsal scales number 15 to 17. Swim bladder extends past insertion of fourth anal ray, and posterior extension is opaque and rather blunt.
Color is greenish dorsally and pale ventrally, with prominent silver stripe along side. Dusky pigment occurs on dorsum and reaches lateral stripe.
Distribution
Western Atlantic Ocean in the northern Gulf of Mexico, a pond near Rockport, Texas, a pond near Galveston, Texas, and possibly along the northwestern coast of Florida.
Ponds near Rockport and Galveston, Texas.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. pelagic.
Biology
This species is the result of hybridization between M. beryllina and M. peninsulae. All individuals are females that mate with males of one of their parent species. The sperm of the males stimulates development of the egg, but the chromosomes of the male do not conjugate with those of the egg. This type of reproduction is called gynogenesis.
IUCN Red List Status: Data Deficient (DD), assessed 2011-08-11. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
References
Echelle and Mosier 1982
Echelle, A.A. and D.T. Mosier (1982) Menidia clarkhubbsi n. sp. (Pisces: Atherinidae), an all-female species. Copeia 1982(3):533-540.
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