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Poecilia

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Poecilia_latipinna.jpg

| image_caption = Male sailfin molly (P. latipinna)

| taxon = Poecilia

| display_parents = 3

| authority = Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801

| type_species = Poecilia vivipara

| type_species_authority = Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text.

| synonyms = {{species list

|Acanthophacelus |Eigenmann, 1907

|Allopoecilia |Hubbs, 1924

|Lebistes |De Filippi, 1861

|Lembesseia |Fowler, 1949

|Mollienesia |Lesueur, 1821

|Neopoecilia |Hubbs, 1924

|Pamphoria |Regan, 1913

|Parapoecilia |Hubbs, 1924}}

| synonyms_ref = {{cite WoRMS |author=Bailly, Nicolas |year= 2014 |title= Poecilia Bloch & Schneider, 1801|id= 154394|access-date=19 July 2023}}

}}

Poecilia is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes.{{ITIS | id = 165897 | taxon = Poecilia | accessdate = June 8, 2006}} These livebearers are native to fresh, brackish and salt water in the Americas, and some species in the genus are euryhaline. A few have adapted to living in waters that contain high levels of toxic hydrogen sulfide ({{chem|H|2|S}}){{cite journal|author=Maura Palacios |author2=Lenin Arias-Rodriguez |author3=Martin Plath |author4=Constanze Eifert|author5=Hannes Lerp|author6=Anton Lamboj|author7=Gary Voelker|author8=Michael Tobler |year=2013 |title=The Rediscovery of a Long Described Species Reveals Additional Complexity in Speciation Patterns of Poeciliid Fishes in Sulfide Springs|journal= PLOS ONE |volume=8|issue=8|page= e71069|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0071069 |doi-access=free |pmid=23976979 |pmc=3745397 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...871069P }} and a population of P. mexicana lives in caves (other populations of this species are surface-living).{{cite journal|author=Martin Plath|author2= Katja U. Heubel|author3= Francisco J. García de León |author4= Ingo Schlupp |year=2005|title=Cave molly females (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei) like well-fed males|journal= Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.|volume=58|issue= 2|pages= 144–151|doi= 10.1007/s00265-005-0918-6|bibcode= 2005BEcoS..58..144P}}

Some common and widespread species are often kept as aquarium fish, while other have very small ranges and are seriously threatened. Species in Poecilia are called mollies (e. g. P. sphenops) or guppies (e. g. P. reticulata) depending on body shape.

Micropoecilia has been proposed to be included as a subgenus of Poecilia.{{cite journal|author=Bragança, P. H. N. |author2= W. J. E. M. Costa |title=Poecilia sarrafae, a new poeciliid from the Paraíba and Mearim river basins, northeastern Brazil (Cyprinodontiformes: Cyprinodontoidei) |journal=Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters |volume= 21 |issue= 4 |date=December 2010|pages= 369–376}}

Taxonomy and etymology

Poecilia was first proposed as a genus in 1801 by the German naturalists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider when the described Poecilia vivipara as a new species. P. vivipara was subsequently designated as the type species of the genus by Pieter Bleeker in 1864.{{Cof family|family=Poeciliinae|access-date=25 May 2023}} It is the type genus of the subfamily Poeciliinae and of the family Poeciliidae.{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=379 |publisher=Wiley |isbn= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }} Poecilia refers to the Greek word poikilos, which means "variegated" or "speckled", an allusion to the coloration and pattern of the type species, as well as that of and other related fishes, such as Fundulus heteroclitus which Bloch & Schneider classified in this genus.{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/cyprinodontiformes4/ | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 9 March 2023 | title= Order CYPRINODONTIFORMES: Families POECILIIDAE, ANABLEPIDAE, VALENCIIDAE, APHANIIDAE and PROCATOPODIDAE | access-date = 25 May 2023 | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}

In aquaria

Fish of this genus have extremely variable coloration and have been selectively bred to create many different varieties. The most commonly kept species are guppies (P. reticulata), mollies (P. sphenops or P. latipinna), and Endler's livebearers (P. wingei). Members of the genus readily hybridize with each other and so most commercially offered fish are hybrids (with guppies having some Endler, and mollies being a mix of common and sailfin mollies).{{Cite web|title=Molly's the word!|url=https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/mollys-the-word/|access-date=11 December 2021|website=Practical Fishkeeping UK|date=13 June 2016}}

They are easy to sex as males have a prominent gonopodium, a modified anal fin used to inseminate females. They mature quickly and breed readily, with females giving birth to a dozen or more fry every month.{{Cite journal|date=2016|title=Reproductive biology of Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846 (Cyprinidontiformes: Poeciliidae) at the Emiliano Zapata Reservoir in Morelos, Mexico|url=https://www.scielo.br/j/ni/a/k8KDwdzPd87QF6bsJ3dMGVd/?lang=en|journal=Neotropical Ichthyology|volume=14|via=SciELO Brazil}} Some poecilids are cannibalistic and will eat any of their fry that are unable to flee in time (with females often eating the fry they just gave birth to, especially in a cramped aquarium setting).

File:Mollies, Північно-Броварський масив, Київ, Україна, 02000 imported from iNaturalist photo 458427128.jpg|Fancy sailfin mollies

File:Molly poussière d'or.jpg|Black mollies

File:Guppy coppia gialla.jpg|Fancy guppies

Species

The 41 currently recognized species in this genus are:{{FishBase genus | genus = Poecilia| month = February| year = 2013}}

If Poecilia in the wider sense is used then the species would be divided up into subgenera as follows:

  • Poecilia Bloch & Schneider 1801
  • Poecilia (Poecilia) vivipara
  • Acanthophacelus Eigenmann 1907
  • Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) kempkesi
  • Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) obscura
  • Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) reticulata
  • Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) wingei
  • Allopoecilia Hubbs 1924
  • Poecilia (Allopoecilia) caucana
  • Poecilia (Allopoecilia) dauli
  • Curtipenis Rivas & Myers 1950
  • Poecilia (Curtipenis) elegans
  • Limia Poey 1854
  • Poecilia (Limia) caudofasciata
  • Poecilia (Limia) caymanensi
  • Poecilia (Limia) dominicensis
  • Poecilia (Limia) fuscomaculata
  • Poecilia (Limia) garnieri
  • Poecilia (Limia) grossidens
  • Poecilia (Limia) immaculata
  • Poecilia (Limia) melanogaster
  • Poecilia (Limia) melanonotata
  • Poecilia (Limia) miragoanensis
  • Poecilia (Limia) nicholsi
  • Poecilia (Limia) nigrofasciata
  • Poecilia (Limia) ornata
  • Poecilia (Limia) pauciradiata
  • Poecilia (Limia) perugiae
  • Poecilia (Limia) rivasi
  • Poecilia (Limia) sulphurophila
  • Poecilia (Limia) tridens
  • Poecilia (Limia) versicolor
  • Poecilia (Limia) vittata
  • Poecilia (Limia) yaguajali
  • Poecilia (Limia) zonata
  • Micropoecilia Hubbs 1926
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) bifurca
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) branneri
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) minima
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) parae
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) picta
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) sarrafae
  • Poecilia (Micropoecilia) waiapi
  • Mollienesia Lesueur 1821
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) boesemani
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) butleri
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) catemaconis
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) chica
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) formosa
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) gillii
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) hondurensis
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) koperi
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) kykesis
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) latipinna
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) latipunctata
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) limantouri
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) marcellinoi
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) maylandi
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) mechthildae
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) mexicana
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) nelsoni
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) orri
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) petenensis
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) rositae
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) salvatoris
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) sphenops
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) sulphuraria
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) teresae
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) thermalis
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) vandepolli
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) velifera
  • Poecilia (Mollienesia) wandae
  • Pseudolimia Poeser 2002
  • Poecilia (Pseudolimia) heterandria
  • Psychropoecilia Myers 1935
  • Poecilia (Psychropoecilia) hispaniolana
  • Poecilia (Psychropoecilia) montana

Gallery

File:Dalmatian molly.jpg|A male Dalmatian molly in a community aquarium

File:Malemolly2.jpg|A male black molly

File:Poecilia vivipara.png|Poecilia vivipara

File:Guppy - Poecilia reticulata.jpg|A female guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

File:Poecilia reticulata (male).JPG|A male guppy

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.molly-fish.com www.mollyfish.com]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q310951}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Live-bearing fish

Category:Ovoviviparous fish

Category:Freshwater fish genera

Category:Ray-finned fish genera

Category:Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch

Category:Taxa named by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider