Hi,
I'm doing a large study of the entire Fundulidae family and I'm trying to determine where in the water column some species are located. I know most species are found in relatively shallow water, but I'm interested in grouping them as 1 of three categories:

1) surface/very close to surface

2) middle

3) bottom/very close to bottom

I realize that this is a very gross oversimplification and that some species move throughout the water column, but I'm hoping that people could at least narrow down where these fish spend the majority of their time. To give you an idea of how I'm categorizing, I would say Fundulus notatus is at the surface, Lucania goodei is in the middle, and Fundulus cingulatus is close to the bottom. Here are the species I need this information for:

1. Fundulus blairae
2. Fundulus lineolatus
3. Fundulus rubrifrons
4. Fundulus zebrinus
5. Fundulus lima
6. Fundulus bermudae
7. Fundulus relictus
8. Fundulus grandis
9. Fundulus confluentus
10. Fundulus pulvereus
11. Fundulus jenkinsi
12. Fundulus stellifer
13. Fundulus rathbuni
14. Fundulus julisia
15. Fundulus majalis

If you have any papers/references to support your classification, that would be great, but even just your thoughts based on your experience with the fish would work for me.
Thanks for any and all help!



-DPFW

I can only comment on Fundulus diaphanus which isnt on your list. It seems to prefer the middle layer in slower shallow sections of streams. They're also a bugger to catch on your own.

_{I suspect some species will behave differently with changes in bathometry, structure, feeding opportunities as well as presence of predators and competitors.}

exasperatus2002- I didn't include it because I had come to the same conclusion (mid water). Still, thank you for confirming that for me!



centrarchid- You are undoubtedly correct. Still, there must be a place where they spend *most* of their time. Fish books and research papers have listed it for other species in this family, so there must be some kind of "general consensus" and that's what I'm looking for.

My personal observations in North Carolina:

F. rathbuni - mostly cruising surface and middle depths, but also commonly feed on the bottom. Spend most of their time in or adjacent to vegetated shallows less than a foot deep, so a trip from surface to bottom is only a fraction of a second. In shallow habitats, I'd say the depth preference distinction is not very meaningful.

F. lineolatus - adults occur at the surface along edges of vegetation patches, often in mixed schools with Gambusia. I've never seen juveniles on the surface, so I'm guessing they stay a little deeper and mostly IN thick vegetation. Of course that doesn't mean they were not on the surface before I got there and spooked them.

Fundulus in general seem to be more wary of humans than most fish, which makes direct observation of their depth frequency tricky.

F. diaphanus -- In July 2012 with Subrosa and Mark Denaro in Delaware River tribs north of Philadelphia we caught diaphanus in fast rocky streams as well as slower streams and rivers. In one seine haul (a pool in a small steep-gradient creek) we caught diaphanus mixed with brown trout, blacknose dace, creek chub, fallfish, common shiner, and green sunfish. How's that for an eclectic mix?

Thanks for the info, gerald! That takes a couple of species off my list!

And, yes, that's a very interesting mix of fish you caught! A very cool mix, though!

If/when you need info on the Florida species I have it for you.