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Eastern mosquitofish

Gambusia holbrooki

Photo by joan6153
Published on Project Noah
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26.3587, -80.0831

Field Notes

Description:

These 1 -1.5 inch fish swim around quickly in the shallow water by the edge of a canal, and chase each other around. I thought they might be guppies. There are two different colors - some yellow and some blue (last 2 pictures) - so it could be several different species. Could it be the fry of one of the bigger canal fish (which include bluegill, blue tilapia and bass)?

Habitat:

In an inland fresh-water canal in western Boca Raton. FL

Notes:

They were swimming in shallow water about 2-3 inches deep. I fed them some tropical fish flake food which they seemed to like to some degree.

Species ID Suggestions

Mosquitofish

Gambusia affinis

Reference Link
AliceGreenup
1

Comments (3)
AliceGreenup
Yes i think they could be the eastern. It's possible they could be but i don't think so. I think the different colour is just the light reflecting off them differently, i have domestic guppys and mosquito fish in my creek and i notice the same thing with them. Or there could just be some colour variation within a population of these fish
joan6153
Thanks for the species ID suggestions. Alice, do you think it could be The Eastern Mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki rather than the western mosquitofish? It was spotted in southeastern Florida and all the sighted individuals were smaller than the western ones can grow. Also, do you think the ones with the blue color were a different species as I thought the mosquitofish tended to be more yellow?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Wildlife of the South East, USA
Mission
Florida's Flora & Fauna
Photographed
PublishedApril 12, 2013

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