Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: No

State Rank: SNA

ITIS Code: 165878          

National Rank: N5           

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The mosquitofish was first collected in Pool 19 of the Mississippi River in 1979 (Harlan et al. 1987).  Since then, permanent populations have established in Pools 14, 18 and 19 as well as Rock Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River. As Iowa is north of its natural range, the severe winters may cause mosquitofish populations to decline (Harlan et al. 1987; Smith 1979).

Habitat Affinities:

The mosquitofish can be found in a wide range of habitats, from the warm, shallow waters of swamps, ditches and impoundments to the calm backwater pools of creeks and rivers (Clay 1975; Cross and Collins 1995; Douglas 1974; Etnier and Starnes 1993; Robison and Buchanan 1988; Trautman 1981). In Iowa, it prefers all types of low current, shallow water (Harlan et al. 1987).  It moves about in groups at the surface and prefers densely vegetated shorelines with little or no current (Cross and Collins 1995; Douglas 1974; Etnier and Starnes 1993; Pflieger 1997; Robison and Buchanan 1988). In Missouri, the mosquitofish is most often found in swamps, sloughs, oxbows and warm backwater of the Mississippi Alluvial Basin Aquatic Subregion (Pflieger 1997). The mosquitofish’s aggressive nature, short life cycle and broad ecological tolerances are a serious concern in some states because it has eliminated many native small fishes through intense competition and rapid range expansion (Robison and Buchanan 1988; Trautman 1981).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=6]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records.

("TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SUBREGION_" = 1 AND "STRAHLER" <= 2)

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" = 'S14' OR ("pool" >= 'S18' AND "pool" <= 'S19'))

Overall Prediction:

("TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "SUBREGION_" = 1 AND "STRAHLER" <= 2) OR

("pool" = 'S14' OR ("pool" >= 'S18' AND "pool" <= 'S19'))

Literature Cited:

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Fairport Fish Management and Hatchery.  2003.  Field notes and unpublished reports.

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Fairport, Iowa.

Gritters, S.A.  1997.  Evaluation of water quality, fish and macroinvertebrates in Rock

Creek.  Fish Management Investigations 1997 Annual Report.  Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Guttenberg Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Guttenberg, Iowa.

Lake MacBride Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports. 

Southeast Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Solon, Iowa.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Mount Mercy College Museum.  2002.  Vertebrate collection database report.  Mount

Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Van Vooren, A.  1981.  Relative utilization of Mississippi River habitats as fish nursery

areas.  Project 81-III-C-11.  Job Completion Reports.  Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa.

Additional References:

Ahuja, S.K.  1964.  Salinity tolerances of Gambusia affinis.  Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 2: 9-11.

Al-Daham, N.K., and M.N. Bhatti.  1977.  Salinity tolerance of Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard) and Heterpneustes fossilis (Bloch).   Journal of Fish Biology 11: 309-13.

Bacon, E.J., Jr., W.H. Neill, Jr., and R.B. Kilambi.  1968.  Temperature selection and heat resistance of the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis.  Pages 411-6 in Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commissions.

Baird, S.F., and C. Girard.  1853.  Descriptions of new species of fishes collected by Captains R. B. Marcy, and Geo. B. M'Clellan, in Arkansas.  Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Science Philadelphia 6: 390-2.

Barney, R.L., and B.J. Anson.  1921.  Seasonal abundance of the mosquito destroying top-minnow, Gambusia affinis, especially in relation to fecundity.  Anatomical Record 22: 317-335.

Barnickol, P.G.  1941.  Food habits of Gambusia affinis from Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, with special reference to malarial control.  Report Reelfoot Lake Biological Station 5: 5-13.

Bence, J R., and W.W. Murdoch.  1986.  Prey size selection by the mosquitofish: relation to optimal diet theory. Ecology 67: 324-36.

Bennett, D.H., and C.P. Goodyear.  1978.  Response of mosquitofish to thermal effluent.  Pages 498-510 in J.H. Thorp and J.W. Gibbons, editors.  Energy and Environmental Stress in Aquatic Systems.  Department of Energy Symposium Series. Conf-771114.

Berkman, H.E.  1984.  Effects of sedimentation on stream fish communities in northeast Missouri.  Master’s thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.  116 pp.

Black, D.A., and W.M. Howell.  1979.  The North American mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis: a unique case in sex chromosome evolution.  Copeia 1979: 509-13.

Brown, C.J.D., and A.C. Fox. 1966.  Mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) in a Montana pond.  Copeia 1966: 614-6.

Casterlin, M.E., and W.W. Reynolds.  1977a.  Aspects of habitat selection in the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. Proceedings and Papers of the Annual Conference of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California 48: 45-7.

Casterlin, M.E., and W.W. Reynolds. 1977b.  Aspects of habitat selection in the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis. Hydrobiologia 55(2): 125-127.

Cech, J.J., Jr., M. J. Massingill, and T.E. Wragg.  1980.  The food demands of mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis. Proceedings and Papers of the Annual Conference of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California 48: 45-7.

Cherry, D.S., R.K. Gutherie, J.H. Rodgers, Jr., J. Cairns, and K.L. Dickson.  1976.  Responses of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) to ash effluent and thermal stress.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 105(6): 686-694.

Collier, A.  1936.  The mechanism of internal fertilization in Gambusia.  Copeia 1936: 45-53.

Conrow, R., A.V. Zale, and R.W. Gregory.  1990.  Distributions and abundances of early life stages of fishes in a Florida lake dominated by aquatic macrophytes.  Transactions of the American fisheries Society 119:521-528.

Constantz, G.D.  1989.  Reproductive biology of poeciliid fishes.  Pages 33-50 in Meffe, G.K., and F.F. Snelson, Jr., editors.  Ecology and evolution of livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae).  Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Courtenay, W.R. Jr., and G.K. Meffe.  1989.  Small fishes in strange places: a review of introduced poeciliids.  Pages 319-31 in Meffe, G. K, and F. F. Snelson, Jr., editors.  Ecology and Evolution of Livebearing Fishes (Poeciliidae).  Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Cowley, D.W., and J.E. Sublette.  1987.  Distribution of fishes in the Black River drainage, Eddy County, New Mexico.  Southwestern Naturalist 32: 213-21.

Cross, F.B.  1967.  Handbook of fishes of Kansas.  University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication  No. 45, Lawrence, Kansas.  357 pp.

Davis, J.R.  1978.  Reproductive seasons in Gambusia affinis and Gambusia geiseri (Osteichthyes: Poeciliidae) from southcentral Texas.  Texas Journal of Science 30(1): 97-99.

Echelle, A.A., and G.D. Schnell.  1976.  Factor analysis of species associations among fishes of the Kiamichi River, Oklahoma.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 105(1):17-31.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Evermann, B.W., and H.W. Clark.  1931.  A distributional list of the species of freshwater fishes known to occur in California.  California Fish and Game Department Fish Bulletin 35: 1-67.

Farley, D.G., and L.C. Younce.  1977.  Some effects of Gambusia affinis (Baird and Girard ) on selected non-target organisms in Fresno County rice fields.  Proceedings and Papers of the Annual Conference of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California 45: 87-94.

Gelwicks, G.T.  1995.  Fish movement between the lower Missouri River and a managed floodplain wetland in Missouri.  Master’s thesis. University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. 190 pp.

Goodsell, J.A., and L.B. Kats. 1999.  Effect of introduced mosquitofish on Pacific treefrogs and the role of alternative prey.  Conservation Biology 13: 921-924.

Grubb, J.C.  1972.  Differential predation by Gambusia affinis on the eggs of seven species of anuran amphibians. American Midlands Naturalist 88: 102-8.

Harrington, R.W., Jr., and E.S. Harrington. 1982.  Effects on fishes and their forage organisms of impounding a Florida salt marsh to prevent breeding by salt marsh mosquitoes.  Bulletin of Marine Science 32: 523-31.

Hollander, R.R.  1986.  Microanalysis of scales of poeciliid fishes.  Copeia 1986: 86-91.

Hubbs, C.  1971.  Competition and isolation mechanisms in the Gambusia affinis x G. heterochir hybrid swarm. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin No. 19. 46 p.

Hunt, B.P.  1953.  Food relationships between Florida spotted gar and other organisms in the Tamiami Canal, Dade County, Florida.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 82: 13-33.

Hurlbert, S.H., and M.S. Mulla.  1981.  Impacts of mosquitofish (Gambusia affinsis) predation on plankton communities.  Hydrobiologica 83: 125-51.

Hurlbert, S.H., J. Zedler, and D. Fairbanks.  1972.  Ecosystem alteration by mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) predation.  Science 175: 639-41.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Krumholz, L.A. 1944.  Northward acclimatization of the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis affinis.  Copeia 1944: 82-5.

Krumholz, L.A. 1948.  Reproduction in the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis affinis (Baird and Girard), and its use in mosquito control.  Ecological Monographs 18: 1-43.

Kushlan, J.A. 1974.  Effects of a natural fish kill on the water quality, plankton, and fish population of a pond in the Big Cypress Swamp, Florida.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 103: 235-43.

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Lawler, S.P., D. Dritz, T. Strange, and M. Holyoak. 1999.  Effects of introduced mosquitofish and bullfrogs on the threatened California red-legged frog.  Conservation Biology 13: 613-622.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Lewis, W. M., Jr.  1970.  Morphological adaptations of cyprinodontoids for inhabiting oxygen deficient waters. Copeia 1970: 319-26.

Lydeard, C., and M. C. Wooten.  1991.  Occurrence of Gambusia affinis in the Savannah and Chattahoochee drainages: previously undescribed geographic contacts between G. affinis and G. holbrooki.  Copeia 1991: 1111-1116.

Lynch, J.D.  1992.  Anthropochore dispersal of Gambusia affinis and Gambusia holbrooki and their aboriginal distributions.  Page 134 in American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Meeting abstracts.

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Meffe, G. K., D. A. Hendrickson, W. L. Minckley, and J. N. Rinne. 1983.  Factors resulting in decline of the endangered sonoran topminnow (Atheriniformes: Poeciliidae) in the United States.  Biological Conservation 25: 135-59.

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Moyle, P.B.  1976.  Inland fishes of California.  University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 405 pp.

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Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

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Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Fish and Wildlife Information System, http://www.conservation.state.mo.us

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Conservation Data Center http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/ucdc/default.asp