Some specimens of this species had previously been misidentified as Gambusia dominicensis.

Fink named this species after the island of Hispaniola, where this fish is found.

The holotype is in the Smithsonian and the type locality is Trou Caïman, Plaine du Cul-de-Sac in Ouest, Haiti.

[2] One phylogenetic analysis showed that G. hispaniolae is a sister species to G. punctata and G.

[2] It is normally found in springs which flow into brackish and saline lagoons.