Gambusia punctata Poey, 1854
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Cuban gambusia, spotted gambusia or blue gambusia (Gambusia punctata) is a species of freshwater fish. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes, and is the type species of its genus. It is native to Cuba, inhabiting lakes, ponds and streams, including mountain streams. A carnivorous surface feeder, it occurs in shoals near the shoreline. It be found in estuarine habitat.
This species has the terminal, upward-facing mouth typical of surface feeders, and a protruding belly. It has four or five rows of darkly spotted scales, possibly forming a dark lateral stripe in the case of the midline row. The dorsal and caudal fins are typically partially spotted. Males reach a maximum standard length (SL) of around 4.8 cm, with females reaching about 7.0 cm. The recorded SL for this species is 10 cm.
Gambusia punctata is part of a species complex including G. rhizophorae, G. xanthosoma, G. beebei and G. pseudopunctata. Additional cryptic species have been proposed to exist within the range of G. punctata on the basis of mitochondrial haplogroup data.
Wikipedia contributors, Cuban gambusia; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:34:08.989734+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gambusia punctata Poey, 1854
- Name authority
- Poey, 1854
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Poeciliidae
- Genus
- Gambusia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCyprinodontiformes
- familyPoeciliidae Bonaparte, 1831
- subfamilyPoeciliinae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusGambusia Poey, 1854
- speciesGambusia punctata Poey, 1854
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gambusia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gambusia dominicensis Regan, 1913 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Widemouth GambusiaGambusia eurystoma Miller, 1975 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clear Creek gambusiaGambusia heterochir Hubbs, 1957 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia hispaniolae Fink, 1971 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| eastern mosquitofishGambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Crescent GambusiaGambusia hurtadoi Hubbs & Springer, 1957 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotfin GambusiaGambusia krumholzi Minckley, 1963 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia lemaitrei Fowler, 1950 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia melapleura (Gosse, 1851) | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia nicaraguensis Günther, 1866 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia panuco Hubbs, 1926 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gambusia puncticulata Poey, 1854 | PoeciliidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gambusia finlayi Santa Maria, 1956 Santa Maria, 1956 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Poey, F. (1851). Memorias sobre la historia natural de la Isla de Cuba, acompañadas de sumarios Latinos y extractos en Francés. La Habana, v. 1: 1–463, Pls. 1–34. [publication dates following Norman, 1938: 1–40, pls 1–8 (Nov 1851); 40–120, pls 9–14 (Apr 1852); 121–200, pls 15–22 (Oct 1852); 201–280, pls 23–30 (May 1853); 281–463, pls 31–34 (Jun 1854)]. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3F7WV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.