Big Bend gambusia

The Big Bend gambusia (Gambusia gaigei) is a rare species of fish in the family Poeciliidae.[2] It is endemic to the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande of the United States and Mexico. The only known remaining population is in a protected pond in the Big Bend National Park.[3]

Big bend gambusia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Poeciliidae
Genus: Gambusia
Species:
G. gaigei
Binomial name
Gambusia gaigei

This livebearer is about 2 inches long. It feeds on aquatic invertebrates.[3]

This species was described by the American ichthyologist Carl Leavitt Hubbs in 1929 from a type collected in slough close to the Rio Grande at Boquillas, Brewster County, Texas[4] by Frederick McMahon Gaige (1890-1976), a zoologist who was director of the Zoological Museum of the University of Michigan. The specific name honours Gaige.[5]

References
  1. NatureServe (2013). "Gambusia gaigei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T8890A18229201. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T8890A18229201.en.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Gambusia gaigei" in FishBase. Aiugust 2019 version.
  3. "Big Bend Gambusia (Gambusia gaigei)". Texas Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Gambusia gaigei". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  5. Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (26 October 2019). "Order CYPRINODONTIFORMES: Families POECILIIDAE, ANABLEPIDAE, VALENCIIDAE, APHANIIDAE and PROCATOPODIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 2 November 2019.


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