Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Name That Fry...

I stocked my renovated pond earlier this year and there are a lot of fry around the edges. I'm trying to figure out what they are.
The choices are Fat head minnows, Golden shiners, Large mouth bass, Bluegill.

Let me know what you think for each of the pictures

Looks like a male gambusia in the first pix

and the second and the third.

I concur - all are mosquito fish aka Gambusia affinis. Also technically those are not fry. They are as noted mature male mosquito fish. Technically fish fry do not yet have their scales.

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised that these are all mosquitofish. We didn't put in any mosquitofish (at least not on purpose). Are these good to keep in the pond? From what I've read, they not only eat mosquito larvae, but also other fish eggs.

If you have LMB especially young of year LMB they will soon significantly reduce numbers of Gambusia and with lack of shoreline habitat - cover the LMB could easily eliminate the Gambusia. Small bass love Gambusia. Clean ponds with Gambusia and hatchling LMB the Gambusia rarely survive more than 1-2 years. With bass in the pond they will keep the Gambusia very close, next to shore and in that area the Gambusia will eat very few eggs and fry of other fish. Return at the end of 2022 and let us know about how many Gambusia that you still see.

Agree with Mr Cody
Gams are liked by LMB and this does force them into shallow water where they will stay. I have had them in my pond for 8 years and they persist today. Those little critters are amazing and I’m glad to have them

Pat, I agree. They are amazing contributors to the food chain. I watch them year after year recover from a terrible winter decimation rising like a phoenix. They are one of the few prey species you can add to pond full of fish and get many times their weight in offspring produced. They produce way more forage than most give them credit for.