Continuing Livebearer Month, the Water Colors team is back to discuss wild-type live bearing fishes! This includes the family poeciliidae, and the tricky taxonomy that comes with it. Some species within poeciliidae are common staples in the aquarium hobby, while many of them are virtually unknown to hobbyists. Aquarists that specialize in livebearing fish have more than a few rare species to dream about! Which species have you kept?
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Species mentioned in this episode, including episode notes from Calder:
Tribe Alfarini
– Genus Alfaro: Small clade of central American livebearers that live in rainforests.
Tribe Gambusini
– Genus Belonesox: This is a highly specialized predator, with an extremely flexible upper
jaw that enables it to take very large prey items for its size.
– Genus Brachyrhaphis: Most are restricted to Panama and Costa Rica, but B. holdridgei
also occurs in Nicaragua and B. hartwegi is from Mexico and Guatemala. A phylogenetic
analysis published in 2015 suggested that Brachyrhaphis may not be of a monophyletic
group.
– Genus Gambusia: Gambusia contains over 40 species, most of which are principally
found in freshwater habitats, though some species may also be found in brackish or
saltwater habitats. The genus Gambusia comes from the Cuban term, “Gambusino”,
which means “free-lance miner”[3] The type species is the Cuban gambusia, G. punctata.
The greatest species richness is in Mexico, Texas, and the Greater Antilles, but species
are also found elsewhere in the eastern and southern United States, the Bahamas, Central
America, and Colombia.
– Genus Heterophallus; A genus of small poeciliids found near the coast in calm waters of
river basins in southeastern Mexico.
Tribe Girardini
– Carlhubbsia
– Genus Heterandria: Most species occur in Guatemala and its surroundings, particularly
Mexico, but the midget livebearer (H. formosa) comes from the southeastern United
States.
– Genus Neoheterandria:
– Genus Poeciliopsis is a genus of poeciliid fishes that primarily are native to Mexico and
Central America. The only exceptions are P. turrubarensis where the range extends into
Colombia, and P. occidentalis where the range extends into Arizona and New Mexico.
– Genus Priapichthys: native to Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia
– Genus Xenophallus: Xenophallus umbratilis is a species of poeciliid fish native to the
countries of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This species grows to a length of 4.5 centimetres
Tribe Poeciliini
– Genus Limia: It comprises 22 described species found in fresh, brackish, saltwater, and
hypersaline habitats of the Greater Antilles islands in the Caribbean Sea. A vast majority
are endemic to Hispaniola. There has been a long-running debate on whether Limia
should be considered a subgenus of Poecilia rather than a full genus. Most Limia species
are detritivores and herbivores.
– Genus Micropoecilia: Micropoecilia is a genus of poeciliids native to fresh and brackish
water from the Amazon Basin to Trinidad.
– Genus Phallichthys: Phallichthys is a genus of poeciliids native to Central America. They
are hardy fish which inhabit stagnant and slow-flowing waters, making them well-suited
to fishkeeping.
– Genus Poecilia
– Genus Xiphophorus
Tribe Cnesterodontini
– Genus Cnesterodon: south American poecilids
– Genus Phalloceros: is a genus of poeciliids native to freshwater habitats in Brazil,
Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. The majority are endemic to southern and
southeastern Brazil (only exceptions are P. caudimaculatus, P. harpagos and P.
leticiae).[2] P. caudimaculatus has long been part of the aquarium industry and has been
introduced to countries far from its native range.
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