The two species of killifish collected at the MBL are both found in local salt marshes and other estuarine environments.

Estuarine animals can be used as models to investigate basic cellular physiology in, by mammalian standards, unusual conditions. Thus, the roles of enzymes in mediating cellular acclimation and tolerance can be investigated. As explained by Dr. Kennedy T. Paynter (Johns Hopkins University), estuarine animals endure large variations in environmental conditions including termperaturem salinity pH, and ovygen concentration, and many of these animals have evolved cellular mechanisms that allow them to tolerate these extremes.

Check our Fish Slides database for photos and catch records.

Robins, C. Richard, Ray, G. Carleton, Douglass, John, 1986, A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes of North America, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston