Flagfish
species of fish
The flagfish (Jordanella floridae), also known as the American flagfish or Florida flagfish, is a species of pupfish, a type of killifish from the family Cyprinodontidae which is endemic to Florida. It is found in the aquarium trade. Its common name derives from the dominant males' body pattern, which bears some resemblance to the flag of the United States.
Description
Flagfish are small, robust fish, 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length, with a truncated snout which has been compared to that of a bulldog. They have rounded fins with the dorsal and anal fins positioned posteriorly and adjoining the caudal fin. Females have an obvious spot on their flanks and a clear spot near the posterior end of the dorsal fin, this has an opaque white margin. The fins may show a slight reddish color but this comes and goes in any individual but the reason for this is unknown. The females body is mainly olive but marked with turquoise scales. The common name of the flagfish is derived from the male due to the resemblance of its patterning to the flag of the United States. There is a dark rectangle on the shoulder which is imagined as the blue and white stars in the corner of the US flag and there are stripes along the flanks, some of which are red and others paler, albeit greenish rather than white.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q861774. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Flagfish” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.