Untitled - Alaska Resources Library

Order Cyprinodontiformes
Family Fundulidae — Topminnows
The species classified in the family Fundulidae were until recently in the family Cyprinodontidae; see Nelson
et al. (2004:216 and 218) for nomenclatural history and literature.
Fundulus parvipinnis Girard, 1854. California Killifish. To 10.8 cm (4.25 in) TL (Miller and Lea 1972).
Morro Bay, central California (Miller and Lea 1972) to Bahia Magdalena, southern Baja California (De
La Cruz-Agüero et al. 1994). Inshore in estuaries, coastal lagoons, and shallow bays.
**Lucania parva (Baird & Girard, 1855). Rainwater Killifish. To 6.2 cm (2.3 in) TL (Moyle 2002). Native to
Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico; brackish portions of Yaquina Bay, Oregon and San Francisco Bay,
northern California (Dill and Cordone 1997). Primarily in brackish bays and estuaries (McEachran and
Fechhelm 1998).
Family Poeciliidae — Livebearers
**Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur, 1821). Sailfin Molly. To 15 cm (5.9 in) TL (Moyle 2002). Native to southern
Atlantic United States and Gulf of Mexico, now introduced into much of warmer Pacific Rim. In
California, known from Salton Sea, Ballona Marsh (Los Angeles County), intertidal wetlands of San
Diego Bay, southern California (Williams et al. 1998), and other sloughs and estuaries in Ventura, Los
Angeles, and San Diego counties (Moyle 2002). Shallow marine waters and freshwaters (McEachran and
Fechhelm 1998).
Order Stephanoberyciformes
Family Melamphaidae — Bigscales
Melamphaes acanthomus Ebeling, 1962. Shoulderspine Bigscale. To 11 cm (4.3 in) SL (Ebeling 1962).
Southern California (Ebeling 1962) to Chile (Pequeño 1989). Mesopelagic and bathypelagic, at depths
of 320–3,500 m (1,050–11,480 ft); young fish shallower (min.: LACM 8598.000; max.: Ebeling 1962).
Melamphaes indicus Ebeling, 1962. To 6.2 cm (2.4 in) SL (Ebeling 1962). Well off southern California (Berry
and Perkins 1966) to northern Chile (Sielfeld et al. 1995). Mesopelagic, at 125–500 m (410–1,640 ft) or
more (min.: Clarke and Wagner 1976; max.: Ebeling 1962).
Melamphaes laeviceps Ebeling, 1962. To 13.4 cm (5.3 in) SL (Ebeling 1962). Mainly eastern tropical Pacific;
far offshore central California and off northern Baja California (Berry and Perkins 1966) to Chile
(Pequeño 1989). Adults probably below 400–500 m (1,312–1,640 ft; Ebeling 1962).
Melamphaes longivelis Parr, 1933. Longfin Bigscale. To 10.6 cm (4.1 in) SL (Ebeling 1962). Atlantic and
Pacific oceans; Japan (Aizawa in Nakabo 2002); southern California (Berry and Perkins 1966) to Chile
(Pequeño 1989). Adults at 500–1,500 m (1,640–4,920 ft) (min.: Ebeling 1962; max.: Fujii in Masuda et
al. 1984); young fish as shallow as 150 m (492 ft; Ebeling 1962).
Melamphaes lugubris Gilbert, 1891. Highsnout Bigscale or Highsnout Ridgehead. To 8.9 cm (3.5 in) SL
(Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Subarctic North Pacific from Japan (Fujii in Masuda et al. 1984) and Okhotsk
Sea to Bering Sea (about 56°N) and Gulf of Alaska (Mecklenburg et al. 2002) to central Baja California
(Ebeling 1962). Adults mesopelagic and bathypelagic, collected at depths of 150–1,500 m (492–4,921 ft;
Mecklenburg et al. 2002); juveniles as shallow as 30 m (98 ft; ZIN 51511). Reported from nets towed as
deep as 3,480 m (11,417 ft), but those were nonclosing nets which would allow fish to enter at any depth
during retrieval of the net (Makushok 1970).
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