Cuban gambusia

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Cuban gambusia
FMIB 47163 Gambusia punctata, from Cuba.jpeg
Male at top, female below
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Poeciliidae
Genus: Gambusia
Species:
G. punctata
Binomial name
Gambusia punctata
Poey, 1854

The Cuban gambusia, spotted gambusia or blue gambusia (Gambusia punctata) [2] is a species of freshwater fish. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, and is the type species of its genus. [3] It is native to Cuba, inhabiting lakes, ponds and streams, including mountain streams. A carnivorous surface feeder, it occurs in shoals near the shoreline. It be found in estuarine habitat. [1] [4]

This species has the terminal, upward-facing mouth typical of surface feeders, and a protruding belly. It has four or five rows of darkly spotted scales, possibly forming a dark lateral stripe in the case of the midline row. The dorsal and caudal fins are typically partially spotted. [4] Males reach a maximum standard length (SL) of around 4.8 cm, with females reaching about 7.0 cm. [5] Record SL for this species is 10 cm. [1]

Gambusia punctata is part of a species complex including G. rhizophorae , G. xanthosoma , G. beebei and G. pseudopunctata . [6] Additional cryptic species have been proposed to exist within the range of G. punctata on the basis of mitochondrial haplogroup data. [6] [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lyons, T.J.; Ponce de León, J.; García-Machado, E. (2021). "Gambusia punctata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T125962255A125963389. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T125962255A125963389.en . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Gambusia punctata Poey, 1854". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Gambusia". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Species: Gambusia punctata, Cuban Gambusia, Spotted Gambusia". Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Gambusia punctata". FishBase . January 2025 version.
  6. 1 2 García-Machado, Erik; Ponce de Léon, José L.; Gutiérrez-Costa, María A.; Michel-Salzat, Alice; Germon, Isabelle; Casane, Didier (2020). "Phylogeographic evidence that the distribution of cryptic euryhaline species in the Gambusia punctata species group in Cuba was shaped by the archipelago geological history". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 144 106712. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106712.
  7. ↑ Lara, Ariagna; Ponce de León, José Luis; Rodríguez, Rodet; Casane, Didier; Côte, Guillaume; Bernatchez, Louis; García-Machado, Erik (2010). "DNA barcoding of Cuban freshwater fishes: evidence for cryptic species and taxonomic conflicts". Molecular Ecology Resources. 10 (3): 421–430. doi:10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02785.x.
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