FreshwaterBrackish
Eastern mosquitofish
Gambusia holbrooki
Poeciliidae, Poeciliinae
Facts
Characteristics
- Length
- Up to 4.7 cm
- Body shape
- Streamlined
Care
- Group
- Missing
- Smallest aquarium
- 5 liters
- Diet
- Missing
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Behavior
Water values
Smallest tank
Range
NativeIntroduced
Lives wild in United States.
Introduced to Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Fiji, and 25 more countries.
More about the species
Description
Adults occur in standing to slow-flowing water, mostly in vegetated ponds and lakes, backwaters and quiet pools of steams, typically seen shoaling at the edges. They also frequent brackish water. Adults feed on small terrestrial insects usually in the drift and amongst aquatic plants, actively selecting very small prey. Also observed to take in mosquito larvae. Introduced worldwide. Introductions to Europe have seriously threatened many endemic species. It is now widely accepted that their effect has been minimal and even may have exacerbated the problem due to their voracious appetite for natural invertebrate predators of mosquito larvae.
Other names
Other scientific names
- Gambusia affinis holbrocki
- Gambusia affinis holbrooki
- Gambusia holbrocki
- Gambusia holbrookii
- Gambusia patruelis holbrooki
- Heterandria holbrooki
In other languages
- Östlig moskitfisk
- Østlig moskitofisk
- Marmorimoskiittokala, Täplämoskiittokala
- Bore-drain fish, Eastern gambusia, Eastern mosquito fish, Gambies, Gambusia, Holbrook's mosquitofish, Mosquitofish, Plague minnow, Starling's perch, Top minnow
Articles
All articles
How to set up a North American aquarium5 min read
Streams and ponds in North America are often cool. How to set up an aquarium without a heater, with pygmy sunfish, shiners and darters.
How to add new fish4 min read
From the store to the tank: how to get the fish used to your water, why you should add only a few at a time, and what to watch for in the first few days.
Quarantine for new fish3 min read
Why new fish should live in a tank of their own for a few weeks before they move in, what you need, and what to look for.
Ich (white spot)4 min read
The most common disease in aquarium fish. How to recognize it, why it shows up, and how to get rid of it.