pike killifish
Belonesox belizanus Kner, 1860
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.
Top minnow (Belonesox belizanus). Female specimen. Aquarium tropical du Palais de la Porte Dorée, in Paris.
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Open encyclopedia reference
The pike topminnow (Belonesox belizanus), more commonly known as pike killifish and sometimes referred to as topminnow, is a species of poeciliid found from Mexico to Nicaragua. It has also been introduced to Florida, USA. It is the only known member of its genus. The pike topminnow was described in 1860 by Austrian ichthyologist Rudolf Kner, who gave the type locality as Belize, which is reflected in this species' specific name.
Wikipedia contributors, Pike topminnow; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:15:56.197220+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Belonesox belizanus Kner, 1860
- Name authority
- Kner, 1860
- Common name
- pike killifish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Poeciliidae
- Genus
- Belonesox
- 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
- genusBelonesox Kner, 1860
- speciesBelonesox belizanus Kner, 1860
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Belonesox maxillosus Hubbs, 1936 Hubbs, 1936 | synonym |
| Belonesox belizanus maxillosus Hubbs, 1936 Hubbs, 1936 | 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.
- Kner, R. (1860). Über Belonesox belizanus, nov. gen. et spec., aus der Familie der Cyprinodonten. Sitzungsberichte Der Kaiserlichen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe, v. 40 (no. 10): 419–422, Pl. [Also as a separate, pp. 3–6.]. 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.
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:5WGFZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.