Can anyone identify this pupfish?

< 2" long.
Seen in fresh water drainage.

TIA.

My guess is Cyprinodon rubrofluviatilis, Red River Pupfish. Mind you, I'm new at this.

If it is from the Houston area, it's a sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus. They are extremely common in our freshwater bayous.

If it is from the Houston area, it's a sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus. They are extremely common in our freshwater bayous.

That would be ideal. See, I've sort of jumped the gun. I have wanted a "Ditches of Sharpstown" aquarium for a few years now. It took those few years to talk my wife into a small fish setup. I only yesterday added f0 pupfish and Gambusia Affinis into a 6' tank with a couple hundred pounds of rock aaaaaaaand ..... one Ancistrus hopolgenys. Yeah, I know, but I couldn't resist. The tank had previously been the bare-bottom home of a single flowerhorn. Plenty of filters and automated daily water changes meant no measurable ammonia, nitrite, OR nitrate. Still, I had "brown algae" on the glass, fed, I'm guessing, by phosphates in our tap water.

I had reason to believe the pups were fine in fresh. Ditches are fresh and I'd kept these pupfish (in fresh water) about six years ago (that's when these pics were taken). Only kept them about three weeks, however, before de-acquiring them to make room for some f0 Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum fry (raised the largest to a fine looking adult and bred him with a f0 adult female).

If these are C. rubrofluviatilis, I believe I'll have to add salt. This means somehow capturing my Ancistrus (lots of rock in there). If these are C. variegatus, then I figure I'll be able to keep them in fresh (this IS where I have seen them wild) water.

Haven't seen or read anything about orangish males in either species nor about the black and white spots on the dorsal fins. Spawning colors are deeper than any pictures I have seen of either species as well. Let's hope I've got some sheepsheads.

Cyprinella lutrensis would complete my tank. Or I might just leave that one out. Haven't seen any in the ditches recently, so I'm beginning to doubt what I thought were previous sightings.

Thanks, all.

Edited by Shay, 15 May 2010 - 01:27 AM.

Breeding males can be bright orange, especially on their fins, and of course have beautiful blue on top. If you keep them at a ratio of one male to two or three females they'll color up pretty regularly.

They do fine without salt, but a little can help stave off the ich that's common in bayous. I'm not too familiar with Ancistrus, but as an armored catfish I'd think they could handle 2 tbsp/5 gal.

Red shiners seem to like muddy water. I've found a lot of them in irrigation creeks. Good luck.