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List of Freshwater Fishes reported from Belize
n = 87
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Table 1: 84 species currently present in the country/island (endemic, native, introduced, reintroduced);
Table 2: 0 species possibly present in the country/island (stray, questionable);
Table 3: 3 species demonstrated to be absent in the country/island (extirpated, not established, misidentification, error).
Table 4: 87 species reported from the country/island altogether.
Table 1: 84 species currently present in the country/island.
     
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Family Species Author Info Occurrence Common names Abundance Max length Maturity Remark Photo
Gobiidae Gobiosoma yucatanum Dawson, 1971 Fr, Br native  Yucatan goby (English)  2.60 cm SL male/unsexed  Found in the mangrove channels near St. John's College, Belize city, Gales Point on southern lagoon, Manatee and Sibun river 0.8 km from Freetown (Ref. 30499). Also Ref. 50190. 
Gobiidae Lophogobius cyprinoides (Pallas, 1770) Fr, Br, M native  Crested goby (English) scarce (very unlikely) 10.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Found in the mouths of rivers and inland lagoons of Belize. Reported from Río Papaloápan, Alvarado, Veracruz and Mexico (Ref. 30499). Also known from Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, Turneffe Atoll, South Water Cay Marine Reserve, Sapodilla Cays and Snake Cays. This was observed as a rare species in Belize (Ref. 128811). 
Haemulidae Rhonciscus crocro (Cuvier, 1830) Fr, Br, M native  Burro grunt (English)  38.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Recorded from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia and Mexico (Ref. 30499). 
Heptapteridae Rhamdia laticauda (Kner, 1858) Fr native  Cave chulín (English), Filespine chulín (English)  29.40 cm SL male/unsexed  Type locality: A cave in the Mountain Pine Ridge of Belize, Central America (Ref. 27299). Also Ref. 36914. 
Heptapteridae Rhamdia quelen (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) Fr native  Guatemalan chulín (English)  61.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Also Ref. 30499. 
Ictaluridae Ictalurus meridionalis (Günther, 1864) Fr native   73.00 cm SL male/unsexed  Known from the Hondo basin (Ref. 87780).  No picture yet.
Lepisosteidae Atractosteus tropicus Gill, 1863 Fr native   125 cm TL male/unsexed   
Megalopidae Megalops atlanticus Valenciennes, 1847 Fr, Br, M, Fi, Sp native  Tarpon (English) occasional (usually not seen) 250 cm TL male/unsexed  Threatened and unprotected (Ref. 26840). Known from Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, Turneffe Atoll, South Water Cay Marine Reserve, Sapodilla Cays and Snake Cays (Ref. 128811). Occurs in Lake Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Ref. 30499). 
Mugilidae Dajaus monticola (Bancroft, 1834) Fr native  Mountain mullet (English)  36.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Reported in Honduras (Ref.30499). 
Mugilidae Joturus pichardi Poey, 1860 Fr, Br native   61.00 cm TL male/unsexed   
Mugilidae Mugil liza Valenciennes, 1836 Fr, Br, M native  Liza (English), Mullet (English)  80.00 cm TL male/unsexed ;69.00 cm TL female   
Mugilidae Mugil trichodon Poey, 1875 Fr, Br, M native  Fantail mullet (English)  46.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Found along its coastline (Ref. 30499). 
Poeciliidae Belonesox belizanus Kner, 1860 Fr, Br, M native  Pike killifish (English)  20.00 cm TL male/unsexed ;15.00 cm TL female  Abundant in shallow water and areas of heavy vegetation; adults and young reported 20 km offshore from Belize City (Ref. 30499). 
Poeciliidae Carlhubbsia stuarti Rosen & Bailey, 1959 Fr native  Barred livebearer (English)  5.50 cm SL male/unsexed ;4.50 cm female  Reported only from Mafredi swamp (Ref. 30499). 
Poeciliidae Gambusia luma Rosen & Bailey, 1963 Fr, Br native  Sleek mosquitofish (English)  4.20 cm SL male/unsexed ;4.00 cm female   
Poeciliidae Gambusia nicaraguensis Günther, 1866 Fr, Br native  Nicaraguan mosquitofish (English)  3.00 cm SL male/unsexed ;4.08 cm SL female  Found in undiluted seawter in a lagoon at Middle Snake Cay in southern Belize and St. Georges Cay (Ref. 30499). 
Poeciliidae Gambusia sexradiata Hubbs, 1936 Fr, Br native  Teardrop mosquito (English)  2.60 cm SL male/unsexed ;3.51 cm SL female  Recorded from the Mojo river drainage. Most abundant in the northern half of the country, at localities distant from the ocean. Of all Belizean species of Gambusia, it is found to be the least tolerant to seawater. 
Poeciliidae Gambusia yucatana Regan, 1914 Fr native   5.50 cm TL male/unsexed ;8.00 cm TL female   
Poeciliidae Phallichthys fairweatheri Rosen & Bailey, 1959 Fr native  Picotee livebearer (English)  3.75 cm SL male/unsexed ;4.50 cm female   
Poeciliidae Poecilia kykesis Poeser, 2002 Fr native   13.00 cm SL male/unsexed ;10.00 cm SL female  Found in the Mussel creek drainage (Ref. 30499). Also known from Hondo and New rivers (Ref. 35631). 
Poeciliidae Poecilia mexicana Steindachner, 1863 Fr, Br native  Shortfin molly (English)  11.00 cm SL male/unsexed   
Poeciliidae Poecilia orri Fowler, 1943 Fr, Br native  Mangrove molly (English)  5.60 cm SL male/unsexed   
Poeciliidae Poecilia teresae Greenfield, 1990 Fr endemic  Mountain molly (English)  4.98 cm SL male/unsexed  Type locality: Macal R. on Mountain Pine Ridge, trib. of e. branch of Belize R., Belize, 16°52'N, 89°01'W.  No picture yet.
Poeciliidae Pseudoxiphophorus bimaculatus (Heckel, 1848) Fr native  Twospot livebearer (English)  7.00 cm TL male/unsexed ;15.00 cm female   
Poeciliidae Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848 Fr, Br native  Green swordtail (English)  14.00 cm TL male/unsexed ;16.00 cm TL female  Found in Belize River. 
Poeciliidae Xiphophorus maculatus (Günther, 1866) Fr native  Southern platyfish (English) occasional (usually not seen) 4.00 cm TL male/unsexed ;6.00 cm TL female  Also Ref. 129076. 
Profundulidae Profundulus guatemalensis (Günther, 1866) Fr native   7.50 cm TL male/unsexed   
Rivulidae Cynodonichthys tenuis Meek, 1904 Fr native  Dogtooth rivulus (English)  6.50 cm TL male/unsexed   
Rivulidae Kryptolebias marmoratus (Poey, 1880) Fr native  Mangrove rivulus (English)  7.50 cm TL male/unsexed  Can be found in standing water that fills burrows of mangrove (Ref. 30499). 
Sparidae Archosargus probatocephalus (Walbaum, 1792) Fr, Br, M native  Southern sheeps head (English)  91.00 cm TL male/unsexed  Most common in estuaries, bays, brackish and freshwater(Ref. 30499). 
Synbranchidae Ophisternon aenigmaticum Rosen & Greenwood, 1976 Fr native  Obscure swamp eel (English)  80.00 cm TL male/unsexed    No picture yet.
Syngnathidae Pseudophallus mindii (Meek & Hildebrand, 1923) Fr native   16.00 cm SL male/unsexed  Caught at the Río Hondo at San Antonio and at Hector Creek, a tributary of the Sibun River (Ref. 30499). 
Syngnathidae Syngnathus scovelli (Evermann & Kendall, 1896) Fr, Br, M native  Gulf pipefish (English)  18.30 cm SL male/unsexed   
Tripterygiidae Enneanectes quadra Victor, 2017 Fr, M native   2.35 cm SL male/unsexed  Collectedf from Glover’s Reef, wreck of Alps and Carrie Bow Cay (Ref. 116142). 
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