Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Minnow identification

I would like to know the identification of these minnows. These were taken out of an old small pond, but these same minnows can be found in about any small stream in the area. Max size is about 2" so they are a small minnow.

Sorry for the poor pictures. I was using my phone and was too close so kind of out of focus. If the pictures are too poor of quality to tell the species I can try to get some better pictures another day.

In the first picture those are floating fish food pellets for size comparison. That is what I used to lure them into the minnow trap, but the minnows were so small they fell out through the holes as I pulled the trap in. A gazillion of these things hitting the surface today in this old pond.

Looks like gambusia affinis. Call it musquitofish. They're pretty common in ponds.

That has kind of been my asumption, but when I start looking up minnows and see all the different ones there are, thought I would ask someone better at identification than myself.

Thanks.

Maybe this one? Western Mosquitofish native to Kansas

USGS info

yep, they are GAMS...

I dislike them in my pond.

It could be either the western or eastern mosquitofish.

The eastern has been wildly introduced outside of its native range in other parts of the US.

Or it could be a hybrid. Point is, pretty much harmless forage.

Ok, thanks everyone.

I have seen these tiny minnows in seasonal creeks around here for many, many years. Never knew what they were or never really cared till lately when got curious. We used to catch them and keep them in an aquarium along with some crawdads, green sunfish, etc. for the kids to watch when young during the summer months.

In my daughters pond that I started refurbishing last fall, just got back in to work on it and finish up the top side last week. The old portion of the pond was not drain-able and with the time frame I had to work with leaving for the winter I basically cleaned out around the old pond around the edge and made a new portion attached to this old pond. So there was still water and fish in the old portion, although the water was down to more of just a large puddle.

So while working on smoothing up the dam and moving dirt topside I saw the water teeming with action. It was a gazillion of these gams hitting the top of the water in the old portion of the pond. Threw a minnow trap in with some feed and pulled it out about ten minutes later. Had a few dozen of the Gambusia in it but they were falling out of the trap through the holes about as fast as I pulled it in (need smaller mesh for catching Gambusia). Had enough fish left in the trap to get the pictures.

Makes me wonder if most of the other GSF and any LMB are long gone. Pond was really low on water and shallow last fall (maybe 3' of water max) so the larger fish may have froze out as we had ice cover for quite a while this winter. I would think if there was a big GSF population, the gambusia could not be this thick in the water as they are now. Top of the water (now higher from spring rain) was covered with Gambusia activity. Maybe only wishful thinking about most of the GSF gone.

Adding 4-6" BG now so the gambusia may be on the run soon. Pond is probably close to an acre total now, with the new portion and the old portion still seperated. Put a few pounds of FHM in the new portion water the other day. Will add about 40 4-6" BG this spring. Been putting the BG in the old water where the Gams are. Then next summer put some a dozen or so 10-12" LMB in. As the pond continues to fill the new and the old portion water will run together when the pond is about 3/4 full. Catching the stocking fish out of my pond to stock it. Kind of a poor mans stocking program as she would not want to spend the money on stock and with existing fish in the old portion of the pond, stocking fingerlings might only be expensive snacks if there happen to be a couple LMB or a bunch of GSF left in the old water.

Did the same thing with son's refurbished pond this spring but his was completely dry when refurbished so no problem with remaining old fish.

The Gams should give the BG we are putting in there something to eat.

Why?

I believe he has felt they are highly predacious on the eggs of more desirable forage and compete with them causing them to not be as abundant. Same reason I don't like them... There are better species out there. I would try all other forage species first if I couldn't get or keep them established, then I may consider stocking gams. I like banded killifish or topminnows to fill the niche.

Thanks for the great info Travis. I still continue to learn from this site!

I have read that before also about the Gams (probably on this forum somewhere).

It will be interesting to see if the 5-6" BG I'm putting in with the Gams will make a dent in them. Maybe they will be all gone in a few years like the fate of most FHM's?

This pond will probably not get LMB added till about 14 months from now and will be 10-12" LMB at that time.

With all the Gams present, I can't believe there are too many predators in this pond currently. Most local farm ponds are either over populated with GSF or LMB. The presence of the Gams leads me to believe something happened to most of the fish at some point.

I could be wrong though. That would be nothing new.

you believe correctly!

Studies have also shown as reported in the USGS Info link above that the mosquito fish not only eats fish eggs but: ""Mosquitofish are known to prey on eggs, larvae, and juveniles of various fishes, including those of largemouth bass and even common carp..."" "Chips (2004) observed maximum consumption rates of 42�167% of their body weight per day." That is a lot of food. This feeding ability can amount to a lot of fish fry getting consumed during spawning season by these fish.

"" In some habitats, introduced mosquitofish reportedly displaced select native fish species regarded as better or more efficient mosquito control agents (Danielsen 1968; Courtenay and Meffe 1989).""Meffe (1983, 1985) found that mosquitofish are very aggressive, even toward larger fish. They often attack, shred fins, and sometimes kill other species.""

Wow!

Small but with a bad attitude.

Wonder if there would be a way to use them to some sort of advantage? Specifically to keep certain species from over producing in a pond?

Probably not. They would probably not select the proper species to reduce egg/fry numbers.

I have found gams to be very hardy even under the most overpopulated LMB situations. Gams are somewhat limited by northern winters. They are native to southern NJ in the east and southern IL and IN in the Midwest. So they are able to tolerate somewhat of a winter. I have seen a population in a pond in central PA that is full of stunted 8"-13" bass, with a nicer panfish population of quality sized YP, crappies and BG/PS. Although they are not anywhere near abundant, they do remain in the pond after over 20 years. This pond does have a thick amount of submerged aquatic vegetation. It also have some shallow areas where the gams can take refuge. That really is their survival method. They can live in the shallowest of waters. There down fall is the winter when they must go deep and be open to predation.