Also killy-. Commonly supposed to be f. KILL sb.2 + FISH; but cf. KILLING ppl. a. 1 b.] The name given to several genera of small fish of the family Cyprinodontidæ, found in sheltered places on the east coast of North America, and used as bait; esp. Fundulus heteroclitus, the green killifish.
1836. J. Richardson, Fishes N. Amer., 56. This Stickleback is said, by Dr. Mitchell, to inhabit the salt waters of New York, and to consort with the Killifish.
1885. Stand. Nat. Hist., III. 170. The large family of Cyprinodontidæ or killifishes, is distinguished … by the structure of its mouth.
