Poecilia

Poecilia
Male sailfin molly (P. latipinna)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cyprinodontiformes
Family: Poeciliidae
Subfamily: Poeciliinae
Tribe: Poeciliini
Genus: Poecilia
Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801
Type species
Poecilia vivipara
Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801
Species

See text.

Synonyms[1]
  • 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

Poecilia is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes.[2] 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 (H
2S)[3] and a population of P. mexicana lives in caves (other populations of this species are surface-living).[4]

Some common and widespread species are often kept as aquarium fish, while other have very small ranges and are seriously threatened.[3] 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.[5]

  1. ^ Bailly, Nicolas (2014). "Poecilia Bloch & Schneider, 1801". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Poecilia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved June 8, 2006.
  3. ^ a b Palacios, Arias-Rodriguez, Plath, Eifert, Lerp, Lamboj, Voelker, & Tobler (2013). The Rediscovery of a Long Described Species Reveals Additional Complexity in Speciation Patterns of Poeciliid Fishes in Sulfide Springs. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71069.
  4. ^ Plath; Heubel; García de León; & Schlupp (2005). Cave molly females (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei) like well-fed males. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 58: 144–151.
  5. ^ Bragança, P. H. N. and W. J. E. M. Costa (2011): Poecilia sarrafae, a new poeciliid from the Paraíba and Mearim river basins, northeastern Brazil (Cyprinodontiformes: Cyprinodontoidei). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters v. 21 (no. 4) [Dec. 2010]: 369–376.