Tex-Mex Gambusia
Gambusia speciosa Girard, 1859
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
Gambusia speciosa, the Tex-Mex gambusia, is a species of fish in the family Poeciliidae which is found in the United States and Mexico. In Mexico its range covers the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas while in the United States it is found in New Mexico and Texas. In Texas it is restricted to the Devils River and its tributaries in Val Verde County. The habitat of the Tex-Mex gambusia includes springs, outflow channels, marshes and the margins of small to medium-sized streams. This species was described by Charles Frédéric Girard in 1859 with the type locality given as the Río San Diego, near Cadereita in Nuevo León.
Wikipedia contributors, Gambusia speciosa; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:01:51.375875+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gambusia speciosa Girard, 1859
- Name authority
- Girard, 1859
- Common name
- Tex-Mex Gambusia
- 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 speciosa Girard, 1859
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 |
|---|---|
| Zygonectus speciosa (Girard, 1859) (Girard, 1859) | 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.
- Girard, C. F. (1859). Ichthyological notices. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 11: 113–122 ;v. 11:150. 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:3F7X8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.