Phallichthys amates, Merry widow livebearer : aquarium

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Phallichthys amates (Miller, 1907)

Merry widow livebearer
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Image of Phallichthys amates (Merry widow livebearer)
Phallichthys amates
Female picture by Slaboch, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) > Poeciliidae (Poeciliids) > Poeciliinae
Etymology: Phallichthys: Greek, phallos = penis + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 9 - 19; non-migratory. Tropical; 24°C - 27°C (Ref. 30491)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Central America: Atlantic drainages, from southern Guatemala to Costa Rica and Panama.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 36880); 6.0 cm TL (female)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Robust body gray with bluish highlights, deep and almost rhomboid. Males with very long gonopodium that reaches the base of the tail; together with the young, with 6 - 8 dark bars (diffused in females) (Ref. 36880).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs mainly in stagnant waters, creeks and river shorelines, over soft bottoms. On the Atlantic versant it lives between 0 and 500 m of elevation, but in the northern Pacific sector is found between 10 and 45 m in the Tempisque and Bebedero drainages; in the Río Tárcoles drainage, where it was probably introduced, it lives between 670 and 1220 m elevation. Inhabits shallow waters with mud or litter substrata in temperatures of 20 to 37°C. Feeds on ooze, detritus, diatoms and occasionally on filamentous algae and aquatic insects (Ref. 36880).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Produces 10-80 young after 28 days gestation (Ref. 2060).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Bussing, W.A., 1998. Peces de las aguas continentales de Costa Rica [Freshwater fishes of Costa Rica]. 2nd Ed. San José Costa Rica: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica. 468 p. (Ref. 36880)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 12 August 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
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Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
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Processing
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Mass conversion
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Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
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Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00955 (0.00477 - 0.01914), b=3.21 (3.04 - 3.38), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.3   ±0.17 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).