killifish, mummichog, cross spiders

Skylab 3 carried the first fish into space in 1973, it was a mummichog. Also on that flight were the first spiders in space, two cross spiders named Arabella and Anita.




Mummichog
Scientific classification

Kingdom:
Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Class:

Actinopterygii

Order:

Cyprinodontiformes


Family:

Fundulidae de le willett

Genus:
Fundulus

Species:

F. heteroclitus


Subspecies:

F. h. heteroclitus


Trinomial name





killifish
Killifish (Fundulus chrysotus) (credit: Gene Wolfsheimer)

Any of a few hundred species of egg-laying topminnows (see guppy) in the family Cyprinodontidae. They are found worldwide in brackish, salt, and fresh water, including desert hot springs. Some species grow to 6 in. (15 cm) long. Killifish eat plant or animal material at the water's surface. Many species (e.g., the lyretail) are attractively coloured and are kept in home aquariums. Killifish are also valuable as bait and for mosquito control. Pupfish (Cyprinodon) inhabit California coasts and certain salt-lake shores in the western U.S. Some pupfish are listed as endangered; the Tecopa pupfish (C. nevadensis; 0.6 in. [1.5 cm] long) was declared extinct in 1981.

For more information on killifish, visit Britannica.com.