Mummichog

REPRODUCTION

- Spawns on a new and full moon during the summer season.

- The eggs are laid at the surface.

- They spawn up to 8 times in a season.

- Eggs hatch on the successive moon tide.

- Eggs can be found on the shells on ribbed muscle shells, leaves of marsh grasses, in pits dug out and covered by the female, or spread directly on the bottom.

-Externally fertilized

-They can release up to 460 eggs.

- They are found swimming in schools after birth.

DESCRIPTION

-Belongs to a group of fishes called the Killifish.

-Killifish are a member of the Cyprinodontidae (large family of small soft-finned fishes; killifishes; swordtails; guppies)

-The head is flattened and the mouth is tilted upwards for catching food near the surface.

-The female mummichog is brownish with 12 to 15 dark vertical stripes with tinted green fins.

- Male Mummichog’s are dark green or olive with a yellowish underside.

- Maximum adult size is 130 mm with the females growing lager than males.

HABITAT

- Located on the Atlantic coast of the US.

- They are abundant in salt marshes, estuaries and tidal creeks.

- Also, they are a hybrid fish that can live in both fresh and salt waters.

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INTERRESTING FACTS

- Swam the earth over 500 million years ago.

- They develop benign tumors when introduced to certain pollutants in water. They are comparable to canaries in coal mines, but unlike canaries, they are not harmed.

- Mummichogs are used commercially used for bait and used for biological experiments.

- The Mummichog was the first fish in space. It accomplished