Fundulidae is the family of topminnows and North American killifishes.

Distribution

The 46 species are native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

as far south as Yucatan, and to the islands of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, occurring in both freshwater and marine environments.

Description

Most members of the family are small. While the giant killifish (''Fundulus grandissimus'') and

northern studfish The northern studfish (''Fundulus catenatus'') is among the largest of the killifish and is native to the southcentral United States. Description The mean length for adults is with a maximum size of . Northern studfish are sexually dimorphic ...

(''Fundulus catenatus'') can reach in length, most species are under 10 cm in length. The distinguishing characteristic of the family is the maxillary bone, which is twisted instead of being straight. While many species of the Fundulidae are listed as not threatened, there are some that are listed as endangered because of their environment. Many common species of the Fundulidae live in North America such as the United States and Mexico. They live in different ecosystem such as costal marshes, lagoons, rivers, streams with high elevations with clear water, and muddy conditions at lower elevation. They are able to adapt to different conditions which is increasing their survival rate.

Genera

There are three genera in the family Fundulidae: * ''

Fundulus ''Fundulus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Funduloidea, family (biology), family Fundulidae (of which it is the type genus). It belongs to the order (biology), order of toothcarps (Cyprinodontiformes), and th ...

'' Lacepède 1803 * '' Leptolucania''

Myers Myers as a surname has several possible origins, e.g. Old French ("physician"), Old English ("mayor"), and Old Norse ("marsh"). People * Abram F. Myers (1889–after 1960), chair of the Federal Trade Commission and later general counsel and b ...

, 1924 * ''

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy, corresponding to the modern-day region of Basilicata. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and ...

'' Girard, 1859

References

Percomorpha families Fish of North America Fish of the Caribbean Taxa named by Albert Günther {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub