Species Profile: Striped Killifish

As most of you hopefully already know, I am a life-list angler. I target, document, and count the number of species, hybrids, and subspecies I catch, specifically on fly tackle. Because of that I spend a lot of time learning about and fishing for many different species of fish. This means I'm more adept at identifying and fishing for an extremely broad range of species than the average fly angler. This series will attempt to outline species identification, some life history, and methods for targeting with fly tackle. Maybe I'll get to every fish on my life list, but considering it is ever growing... it would take a while. Mostly, I hope this will get a few of you interested in going out and learning about or catching something new. 

If you've ever walked around a sand flat or through a salt marsh at low tide on the Atlantic coastline, you've probably seen hoards of small fish schooled it surprisingly shallow water, sometimes just in shallow puddles cut off from the sea by the tide. In most cases, these fish are some species of killifish. Here in CT most people simply use the name mummichog, which is a killifish species, but not always the one being called by that name. There are actually more than 1000 species of killifish in numerous different families. From the northern portions of the east central Florida to New Hampshire though, if you are looking at killifish in salt water one of the likely species candidates is the striped killifish.

Fundulus majalis

Striped killifish are the largest killifish in most of the places they are found, growing to 6 or 7 inches. The largest striped killifish I've personally caught was a monster at 7 1/2 inches long. Specimens as large as 8 inches are possible. Striped killifsh are slender with a pointed mouth and upturned snout. Their belly is white in color, their sides silvery grading into an on live back. The distinct black stripes that give the species its name also serves to distinguish between males and females. Males have vertical stripes, females have mostly horizontal stripes and usually some vertical ones, a clear example of sexual dimorphism. Females also get a bit larger than males. 

The fish in the first photo is a male, this one is a female

It should be noticed that most killifish from the same areas have vertical barring patterns, however the distinct dark black bands of the striped killifish set it apart from the other species it could be mistaken with. 

NOT a striped killifish. Do you know what species it actually is?

Striped killifish have a high salinity tolerance and a high temperature tolerance. They can often be found in extremely shallow, hot, salty water. At low tide at night it is actually pretty easy to catch them by hand, walking around with a headlamp on. They spawn in the shallows from early spring through early fall, and individuals can spawn repeatedly in one season. Eggs may hatch in as little as 12 days in very warm water. Striped killies live three to five years on average, and feed on a variety of macroinvertebrates and microorganisms.

Catching striped killifish on the fly isn't a complex affair. Walk the edges of a bay or tidal creek between April and November and look for schools of killifish, then drop a tiny nymph into their midst. A size 18 is small enough in many circumstances, but I routinely go down to 20's or smaller and sometimes use tenago hooks when targeting killifish. Sometimes they can be a little picky towards an artificial fly, carrying a bottle of anise extract might not be a bad idea but isn't necessary most of the time. If killies are spooked though, it is hard to get them to eat anything at all.

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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