Gambusia gaigei Hubbs, 1929
Big Bend gambusia
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Erroneously listed as Extinct by (Matthiessen, 1959 fide Miller et al., 1989:37)
IUCN RedList status: Vulnerable
Distribution & Habitat
springs in Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, USA
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Campbell, L. 1995. Endangered and Threatened Animals of Texas: Their Life History and Management. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Endangered Resources Branch, Austin, Texas.
Echelle, A.A. 1991. Conservation genetics and genic diversity in freshwater fishes of western North America. In: W. L. Minckley and J. E. Deacon (eds), Battle against extinction: native fish management in the American West, pp. 141-153. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Hendrickson, D. A. and Brooks, J.E. 1991. Transplanting short-lived fishes in North American deserts: review, assessment, and recommendations. In: W.L. Minckley and J.E. Deacon (eds), Battle Against Extinction: Native Fish Management in the American West, pp. 283-298. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Hubbs, C. and Mosier, D.T. 1985. Fecundity of Gambusa gaigei. Copeia 1985: 1063-1064.
Hubbs, C. and Williams, J.G. 1979. A review of the circumstances affecting the abundance of Gambusia gaigei, an endangered fish endemic to Big Bend National Park. In: R. Linn (ed.), Proceedings of the First Conference on Scientific Research in the National Parks, pp. 631-635. New Orleans, Louisiana.
Hubbs, C., Edwards, R.J. and Garrett, G.P. 2002. Threatened fishes of the world: Gambusia gaigei Hubbs, 1929 (Poeciliidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 65: 82.
Hubbs, C., Edwards, R.J. and Garrett, G.P. 2008. An annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Texas, with keys to identification of species. Texas Journal of Science 43(4): 1-87.
Hubbs, C., Hoddenbach, G. and Fleming, C.M. 1986. An enigmatic population of Gambusia gaigei. Southwestern Naturalist 31: 121-123.
Lee, D.S., Gilbert, C.R., Hocutt, C.H., Jenkins, R.E., McAllister, D.E. and Stauffer, J.R., Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Matthews, J.R. and Moseley, C.J. (eds). 1990. The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to Endangered Species of North America. Volume 1. Plants, Mammals. xxiii + pp 1-560 + 33 pp. appendix + 6 pp. glossary + 16 pp. index, pp. 1180. Beacham Publications, Inc., Washington, D.C.
Meffe, G.K. and Snelson, F.F., Jr. (eds). 1989. Ecology and evolution of livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae). pp. 453. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Miller, Robert Rush, Williams, James D. and Williams, Jack E. (1989). Extinctions of North American fishes during the past century. Fisheries 14(6): 22-38.
Minckley, W.L. and Deacon, J.E. 1991. Battle Against Extinction: Native Fish Management in the American West. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
Minckley, W.L., Meffe, G.K. and Soltz, D.L. 1991. Conservation and management of short-lived fishes: the cyprinodontoids. In: W.L. Minckley and J.E. Deacon (eds), Battle Against Extinction: Native Fish Management in the American West, pp. 247-282. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona.
NatureServe. (2013). Gambusia gaigei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T8890A18229201. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T8890A18229201.en. Accessed on 13 September 2025.
Nelson, J.S., Crossman, E.J., Espinosa-Perez, H., Findley, L.T., Gilbert, C.R., Lea, R.N. and Williams, J.D. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L.M. and Burr, B.M. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Page, L.M. and Burr, B.M. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts.
Rauchenberger, M. 1989. Systematics and biogeography of the genus Gambusia (Cyprinodontiformes: Poecilidae). American Museum Novitates 2951: 1-74.
Rio Grande Fishes Recovery Team. 1984. Recovery plan for Big Bend Gambusia (Gambusia gaigei Hubbs, 1929). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Robins, C.R., Bailey, R.M., Bond, C.E., Brooker, J.R., Lachner, E.A., Lea, R.N. and Scott, W.B. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1967. Native fish and wildlife: endangered species. Federal Register 32(48): 4001.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1990. Endangered and threatened species recovery program: report to Congress.