Home/Species/ Eastern Mosquitofish

Gambusia holbrooki

Girard, 1859

Eastern Mosquitofish

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105815

Element CodeAFCNC02100

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassActinopterygii

OrderCyprinodontiformes

FamilyPoeciliidae

GenusGambusia

Concept Reference

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.

Taxonomic Comments

Formerly regarded as a subspecies of GAMBUSIA AFFINIS; elevated to full species status by Wooten et al. (1988); this change was adopted in the 1991 AFS checklist (Robins et al. 1991). Page and Burr (1991) retained HOLBROOKI as a subspecies of AFFINIS, noting intergradation in the Mobile Bay basin. Apparently hybridizes/intergrades with G. AFFINIS in some sites in the Chattahoochee and Savannah river drainages (Lydeard and Wooten 1991). In three drainages in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, most of genetic divergence occurred among local populations and not among populations from different geographic regions or environments; the 2 forms proposed by Wooten et al. (1988) were not detected in genetic analysis by Hernandez-Matich and Smith (1990). Subgenus ARTHROPHALLUS, AFFINIS species group (Rauchenberger 1989). See Rauchenberger (1989) for a study of the interrelationships of the subgenera and species groups within the genus GAMBUSIA.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2012-02-06

Change Date1996-09-20

Edition Date2012-02-06

Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Range Extent Comments

Range includes the Atlantic and Gulf slope drainages from southern New Jersey to the Pascagoula River and nearby streams, southeastern Mississippi; absent from the Mobile Bay drainage except the extreme southern part (Page and Burr 2011). This species has been introduced outside the native range; it may be established in some of these areas.

See Walters and Freeman (2000) for information on the distribution of G. affinis and G. holbrooki in the Conasauga River system, where affinis is widespread and native and holbrooki is apparently introduced and expanding its range.

Occurrences Comments

This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

Threat Impact Comments

No major threats are known.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species often occurs in shallow, often stagnant, ponds and shallow edges of lakes and streams where predatory fishes are largely absent and temperatures are high. It also can be found in brackish sloughs and coastal saltwater habitats.

Reproduction

Breeds in spring and summer. Internal fertilization; ovoviviparous. Female produces up to several broods of young each season. Under optimal conditions females can become gravid at 6 weeks of age, produce 2-3 broods in first summer. Gestation 3-4 weeks. Few individuals live more than 15 months.

Palustrine Habitats

FORESTED WETLAND

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Mississippi	S5	Yes
New Jersey	S3	Yes
Alabama	S5	Yes
Pennsylvania	SNA	No
Virginia	S4	Yes
District of Columbia	S4	Yes
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Delaware	S5	Yes
Maryland	S4	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
New York	SNA	No
Florida	S5	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
No known threats	—	—	—

Roadless Areas (5)

Florida (4)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Farles Prairie	Ocala National Forest	1,901
Natural Area Wsa	Osceola National Forest	2,543
Savannah	Apalachicola National Forest	1,927

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Northern Massanutten	George Washington National Forest	9,444

References (27)

Boschung, H. T., and R. L. Mayden. 2004. Fishes of Alabama. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 960 pp.
Hernandez-Martich, J. D., and M. H. Smith. 1990. Patterns of genetic variation in eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki Girard) from the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of three drainages. Copeia 1990:619-630.
Hoehn, Theodore S. and D. Gray Bass (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)). 2000a. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, TNC. March 2000.
Jenkins, R. E., and N. M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. xxiii + 1079 pp.
Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
Lydeard, C., and M. C. Wooten. 1991. Occurrence of Gambusia affinis in the Savannah and Chattahoochee drainages: previously undescribed geographic contacts between G. affinis and G. holbrooki. Copeia 1991:1111-1116.
Marcy, B. C., Jr., D. E. Fletcher, F. D. Martin, M. H. Paller, and M.J.M. Reichert. 2005. Fishes of the middle Savannah River basin. University of Georgia Press, Athens. xiv + 460 pp.
McIninch, Stephen P. (Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University). 2001. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2001.
Meffe, G. K., and F. F. Snelson, Jr., editors. 1989. Ecology and evolution of livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae). Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 453 pp.
Menhinick, E. F. 1991. The freshwater fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. 227 pp.
Mettee, M. F., P. E. O'Neil, and J. M. Pierson. 1996. Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin. Oxmoor House, Birmingham, Alabama. 820 pp.
Moyle, P. B. 1976a. Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp.
Moyle, P. B. 2002. Inland fishes of California. Revised and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley. xv + 502 pp.
Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.
Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
Raasch, Maynard S. 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, TNC. April 2000.
Raesly, Richard L. (Frostburg State University). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. April 2000.
Rauchenberger, M. 1989. Systematics and biogeography of the genus Gambusia (Cyprinodontiformes: Poecilidae). American Museum Novitates (2951):1-74.
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Rohde, Fritz (Icthyologist, North Carolina Division of Marine Fishes). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI.
Scribner, K. T. 1993. Hybrid zone dynamics are influenced by genotype-specific variation in life-history traits: experimental evidence from hybridizing Gambusia species. Evolution 47:632-646.
Skelton, Christopher E. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Natural Heritage Program). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, TNC. March 2000.
Walters, D. M., and B. J. Freeman. 2000. Distribution of Gambusia (Poeciliidae) in a southeastern river system and use of fin ray counts for species determination. Copeia 2000:555-559.
Wooten, M. C., K. T. Scribner, and M. H. Smith. 1988. Genetic variability and systematics of Gambusia in the southeastern United States. Copeia 1988:283-289.

Gambusia holbrooki

Habitat

Reproduction

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