killifish

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kil·li·fish

(kĭl′ĭ-fĭsh′)

n. pl. killifish or kil·li·fish·es

Any of numerous small fishes of the family Fundulidae and related families of the order Cyprinidontiformes, chiefly inhabiting fresh and brackish waters in warm regions and popular in home aquariums.

[Perhaps kill + fish.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

killifish

(ˈkɪlɪˌfɪʃ)

n, pl -fish or -fishes

(Animals) any of various chiefly American minnow-like cyprinodont fishes of the genus Fundulus and related genera, of fresh and brackish waters: used as aquarium fishes, to control mosquitoes, and as anglers' bait

[C19: see kill², fish]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

kil•li•fish

(ˈkɪl iˌfɪʃ)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -fish, (esp. for kinds or species) -fish•es.

1. any small freshwater fish of the family Cyprinodontidae, used as bait and for mosquito control.

2. Also called topminnow. any of several small North American freshwater killifishes, used as bait and for mosquito control.

3. any of several livebearers.

[1805–15, Amer.; killi- (perhaps kill² + -y² + fish]

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Noun

killifish - small mostly marine warm-water carp-like schooling fishes; used as bait or aquarium fishes or in mosquito control

cyprinodont - any member of the family Cyprinodontidae

Fundulus heteroclitus, mummichog - silver-and-black killifish of saltwater marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States

Fundulus majalis, may fish, mayfish, striped killifish - black-barred fish of bays and coastal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the United States

rivulus - found in small streams of tropical America; often kept in aquariums; usually hermaphroditic

American flagfish, flagfish, Jordanella floridae - a fish with a dark-blue back and whitish sides with red stripes; found in swamps and streams of Florida

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