Welcome to my Fundulus site. In part I start with my own various writings about and pictures of one of the most interesting groups of fish in North America. My experience with the 30+ species in this genus began with the ones found in coastal New England -- Fundulus heteroclitus, F. luciae, F. majalis and F. diaphanus. I currently live in Alabama and have collected many other speciesin this genus: F. olivaceus, notatus, catenatus, dispar, chrysotus, stellifer, notti, grandis, pulvereus and jenkinsi. And I also keep Fundulus euryzonus, thanks to BG Granier.

Like other killifish from those parts of the world once part of Gondwanaland (about 160 million years ago), Fundulus species have adapted to a range of habitats, from near-shore ocean waters to small upland creeks. They all retain the basic Fundulus body plan of fairly small pike-like fish, with small fins set back on the body and a round caudal fin. Coloration ranges from pretty, like chrysotus and dispar, to essentially black & white like majalis.

There are four accounts of Fundulus on the site now. I include two of my own contributions. The first is Spotfins, about the Spotfin killifish, Fundulus luciae. My research project for summer 1999 was searching for the northern limit of this fish's distribution in southeastern Massachusetts. The article includes two of my photographs of Spotfin habitat, and a photograph of two male luciae taken by Fritz Rohde. And my second contribution is Nantucket, a review of the killifish fauna of this island off of the coast of Massachusetts including three Fundulus species.

I have added my photo essay on the extinct Whiteline Killifish, Fundulus albolineatus. This page is called "An Extinct Fish." This fish was only found in what is now Huntsville, Alabama, and was last seen in 1888. Since I now live in Huntsville, I have put together a photo essay on what has happened to the habitat of what became the first freshwater fish to go extinct in North America due to habitat alteration.

Bayou Pierre in Mississippi, Fundulus habitat. Photo: Martin Moore.

I have achieved one of my first goals for this page, including other writers and their experiences with Fundulus. The site contains Michael Patterson's review of two closely related species, Fundulus olivaceus and F. notatus, and Bob Bock' s youthful experiences with the Meadowlands in north Jersey, especially with Fundulus heteroclitus the mummichog. I include several photographs of the Meadowlands taken around the Vince Lombardi rest area of the NJ Turnpike to illustrate the Meadowlands.

New to the site is a list of currently recognized Fundulus species (Fundulus_List) based on a list at the Texas Natural History Collections web site. Since I have posted this list the latest edition of the Killifish Master Index has been released, which is slightly different; I have yet to reconcile the differences, but should probably list both. And there is also a reprint from the Greater Cinncinnati Killifish Association, Fundulus_Family, about F. Olivaceus, notatus and euryzonus.

I hope to be able to post other information, other views, as time goes on.

There is also my bibliography on Fundulus. This third version has over 280 entries, from both peer-reviewed science journals and the publications of the American Killifish Association (Journal of the American Killifish Association) and the North American Native Fishes Association (American Currents). The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) has issued an appeal to scientists to refrain from publishing species descriptions in the "gray literature" which includes publications such as JAKA and American Currents. I support such a decision, but I also feel that these two publications make a contribution by addressing the collection and husbandry of fish; I wish to include all sources of useful information about the genus Fundulus. I welcome any comments on the bibliography.

Barry Cooper and the American Killifish Association very generously make this web site possible; if you are interested in killies, I strongly urge you to join the AKA at www.aka.org. For native fishes of North America in general, check out the North American Native Fishes Association at www.nanfa.org .

I hope this site is a useful addition to the clutter of the Web. You can contact me, Bruce Stallsmith, at fundulus@hotmail.com.
 
 

 

(Site updated on March 30, 2001.)