Native Bay Fish?

[Animalsrule912]

So I was looking at the fish I caught from a bait trap in NJ and I've always wanted to set up a tank with the fish from that bay environment. One fish looked an awful lot like a female white sailfin Molly I used to own, albeit with different, more wild-type coloration. Which leads me to wonder: is there such thing as a non-tropical Poecilia species? Because if I am to set up a native aquarium, I would like to have those fish. I loved Molly fish. If it is a Molly, does the tank have to be brackish or can I acclimate the fish to freshwater? What type of salt could I use?

I also found killi-like fish.

But I'm also wondering, is this legal? I can't find any information or guides on this, let alone fish identification. I'm not sure whether it's legal to set up an aquarium using native brackish fish from nj.

Would I be better off setting up a single species tank, or can I do a community complete with other fish and shrimp/snails that I find?

One last thing: does anyone know where I can find a useful baitfish identification list, where maybe I can identify the fish I found?

Thank you for reading this (probably annoying) collage of questions.
http://www.aquariumforum.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=526881

 

[jetajockey]

Welcome to the forum.

We have wild mollies here in FL, not sure about up there. The fish you are finding might very well be some sort of killifish, there are many species all up and down the coast.

As far as the laws go, your state fish and wildlife site should have more info, specifically regarding fishing. Try nanfa.org for IDing the fish, just get some good photos. I'm not sure if there's any field guides for brackish/sw fish but there may be.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

I think most of the illegal stuff is keeping invasive non native fish. Even so is the EPA guna raid ur house and confiscate 1 30 or so gallon tank.... I highly dout it. Not saying its ok to do but as long as you aren't like breeding and releasing them I don't see the issue.

 

[Niccobacci11]

Well i think i might know what the "killifish" could be. My family owns a house on the chesapeake bay and we catch these long slender fish that are called Atlantic needle fish. They are able to move in between fresh and saltwater. The biggest one that we have caught was in our crab trap a few years ago, probably going after a crab, was a foot and a half. I dont have a picture of it but we caught small ones like this in our nets at the end of our dock all the time.