Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Russetfin topminnow (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
Russetfin Topminnow
Fundulus escambiae
Fundulidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Russetfin Topminnow
The russetfin topminnow (Fundulus escambiae) is a North American species of temperate freshwater killifish belonging to the genus Fundulus of the family Fundulidae.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: algae or phytoplankton; invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include surface or water-column feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, creeks, still-water habitats.
The source records associations with muck, clay or silt, sand, vegetation. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Batch or serial spawning has been reported somewhere in the species’ range. This does not establish the same spawning pattern for every population.
Recorded spawning months are May, Jun for the source’s reporting region (AL). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 7.8 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 3 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
Range
Where it lives
Share of records by state
Habitat
Water and movement
- Water
- WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
- Migration
- Not migratory
Classification
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Superclass
- Actinopterygii
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cyprinodontiformes
- Family
- Fundulidae
- Genus
- Fundulus
- Species
- Fundulus escambiae
- ITIS TSN
- 165675
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1019791
- GBIF key
- 5203680
Common questions about Russetfin Topminnow
What is the scientific name of Russetfin Topminnow?
Does Russetfin Topminnow live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Russetfin Topminnow been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Fundulus species
Same family