The
mummichog is a
killifishA killifish is any of various oviparous cyprinodontiform fish . All in all there are some 1270 different species of killifish, the biggest family being Rivulidae, containing more than 320 species...
found in brackish and coastal waters along the eastern seaboard of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as
Atlantic CanadaAtlantic Canada, also known as the Atlantic provinces, is the region of Canada comprising four provinces located on the Atlantic coast: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. It is noted for its hardiness and for being a popular research subject in embryological, physiological, and toxicological studies.
Mummichogs are typically found in muddy marshes, channels, and grass flats along coastal areas. They travel in schools that may contain hundreds of individuals.
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The
mummichog is a
killifishA killifish is any of various oviparous cyprinodontiform fish . All in all there are some 1270 different species of killifish, the biggest family being Rivulidae, containing more than 320 species...
found in brackish and coastal waters along the eastern seaboard of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as
Atlantic CanadaAtlantic Canada, also known as the Atlantic provinces, is the region of Canada comprising four provinces located on the Atlantic coast: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. It is noted for its hardiness and for being a popular research subject in embryological, physiological, and toxicological studies.
Biology
Mummichogs are typically found in muddy marshes, channels, and grass flats along coastal areas. They travel in schools that may contain hundreds of individuals. Indeed, the name mummichog is derived from a Native American term which means "going in crowds".
The mummichog spawns on new and full moons in the spring and summer. Its eggs are laid near the high tide mark in empty mollusk shells or on dead vegetation and can tolerate long-term exposure to air. Typically mummichogs reach sexual maturity during their second year and live for a total of three years.
Because of the extreme hardiness of the species, it is sometimes the only species found in severely polluted and
oxygenOxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...
-deprived streams, such as the Elizabeth River in Virginia, and the
Hackensack RiverThe Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 mi long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River,...
and the
Arthur KillThe Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York from mainland New Jersey, USA. Kill is from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel"...
in
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
during the height of the water pollution problem in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Interest to Humans
- Mummichog eggs are used in teaching embryology
Embryology is the study of the development of an embryo. An embryo is defined as any organism in an early stage well before birth or hatching, or in plants, before germination occurs....
, because it is possible to see the eyes and the beating heartThe heart is a muscular organ found in all vertebrates that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
and follow the different stages of ontogenesis.
- Mummichogs are used to stock otherwise fishless ponds that breed mosquito
Mosquito is a common insect in the family Culicidae...
s, and within three days the ponds are normally mosquito free.
- In 1973 the mummichog became the first fish in space when carried on Skylab 3
Skylab 3 was the second manned mission to Skylab. The Skylab 3 mission started July 28, 1973, with the launch of three astronauts on the Saturn IB rocket, and lasted 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes...
as part of the biological experiments package. Later space missions by the U.S., such as Bion 3Bion 3 was a Bion satellite. It was the first joint U.S.-Soviet biomedical research flight. It carried fourteen experiments prepared by seven countries in all, with participation from scientists in France, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.It included a centrifuge with revolving and...
, have also carried mummichog.
- Mummichogs are often caught in seines and minnow traps to be sold as live bait for fishermen.
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