Diagnostic Characteristics
G. holbrooki usually has seven dorsal rays and a gonopodium with prominent teeth on ray three. G. affinis usually has six dorsal rays and lacks prominent teeth on gonopodial ray three. Both subspecies have a chromosome number of 2n = 48 but female G. affinis possess a large heteromorphic sex chromosome which is lacking in G. holbrooki (Black and Howell 1979).
In Arizona, G. affinis may be confused with Poeciliopsis occidentalis, the Sonoran topminnow. In topminnows the gonopodium is asymmetrical to the left, large hooks and serrae absent on gonopodial tip, and the gonopodium reaches beyond the snout when directed forward. The pelvic fins of males are unmodified and somewhat reduced. Many breeding males will be blackened. In G. affinis the gonopodium is symmetrical with large hooks and serrae on the tip. The pelvic fins of males are modified with a fleshy appendage on the distal third of the first, short, unbranched ray. Males are rarely blackened.
Habitat
Habitat includes river channels, margins, backwaters; springs, marshes, and artificial habitats of all kinds (Minckley et al. 1991). Often this species occurs in shallow, often stagnant, ponds and the shallow edges of lakes and streams where predatory fishes are largely absent and temperatures are high. It is most abundant in shallow water with thick vegetation (Hubbs 1971). It also occurs in brackish sloughs and coastal saltwater habitats (Tabb and Manning 1961, Odum 1971). This fish is more tolerant of pollution than are most other fishes (Lewis 1970, Kushlan 1974). It tolerates dissolved oxygen levels as low as 0.18 mg/L (Ahuja 1964) but cannot tolerate extreme cold; temperature apparently limits the range northward (Hubbs 1971). However, some populations are known to overwinter under ice in Indiana and Illinois (Krumholz 1944).
Ecology
May experience severe winter mortality in some areas, but may quickly reestablish population.
Predators include water snakes (Nerodia) (Mushinsky and Hebrard 1977, Kofron 1978), water birds (Kushlan 1973), spiders (Suhr and Davis 1974), and fishes such as black basses and gars (Hunt 1953).
Reproduction
Fish born early in the spring may reproduce later in the summer and fall. Those born late in the reproductive season overwinter before reproducing (Krumholz 1948). In southcentral Texas, young may be collected from March to October with a peak in abundance in April (Davis 1978). In some constant temperature springs, these fish cease reproduction in winter (Brown and Fox 1966, Davis 1978). However, some populations from thermal habitats (such as cooling ponds and lakes) reproduce year-round (Ferens and Murphy 1974, Bennett and Goodyear 1978). At the Savannah River Power Plant site, South Carolina, fish reproduce throughout the winter although at much reduced brood sizes (Meffe, pers. comm., cited in Constantz 1989). These same workers found that the percentage of reproductively active females increased with increasing water temperature.
Mosquitofish have internal fertilization and are ovoviviparous (Sublette et al. 1990). Females can store sperm from one copulation and fertilize several broods sequentially (Krumholz 1948). After a gestational period of 21 to 28 days, the young are born alive at a size of approximately eight to nine mm total length (Krumholz 1948). Larger females produce more offspring (Krumholz 1948). Brood sizes of one to 315 young have been reported (Barney and Anson 1921, Moyle 1976). Females annually have four to five broods (Krumholz 1948). Sex ratios are 1:1 at birth, but in older cohorts, the number of males declines relative to the number of females (Krumholz 1948). Under optimal conditions females can become gravid at 6 weeks of age, produce 2-3 broods in first summer. Few individuals live more than 15 months (Moyle 1976).
Life history is flexible, varies with environmental conditions (Stearns 1983).