Poecilia formosa, Amazon molly : aquarium

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Poecilia formosa (Girard, 1859)

Amazon molly
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Image of Poecilia formosa (Amazon molly)
Poecilia formosa
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: Poecilia: Greek, poikilos = with a lot of colours (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Girard.

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

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; non-migratory. Subtropical; 27°N - 25°N

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

North America: lower Nueces River (where possibly introduced) and lower Rio Grande, extreme southern Texas, to Veracruz in Mexico. Introduced populations at San Antonio and San Marcos, Texas.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 9.6 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 5.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-12. Similar to females of P. latipinna but lacks rows of brown spots on side (may have row of dusky black spots).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

In backwaters and quiet pools of streams, sloughs, and ditches, usually over mud. This is an all-female species thought to have originated as a result of hybridization between P. latipinna and P. sphenops. Gynogenesis reproduction is triggered by copulation and stimulation by sperm from males of other species in the genus, either P. latipinna, P. mexicana, P. latipunctata, or rarely P. sphenops.

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

Reproduces gynogenetically (Refs. 8601, 8602, 8605, 5723, 125602), meaning once the sperm has penetrated the egg membrane, it takes no further part in the development of the embryo. Eggs develop following copulation and stimulation by sperm from males of other species in the genus, either P. latipinna, P. mexicana, P. latipunctata, or rarely P. sphenops. Viviparous (Ref. 8601), but there is no nutritional contribution by the mother during embryonic development to compensate for the depletion of stored reserves in the egg as embryos develop (Ref. 8606).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Meyer, M.K. and A.C. Radda, 2000. Notes on the subgenus Mollienesia Lesueur,1821, with a description of a new species of Poecilia Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) from Venezuela. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 102B:75-81. (Ref. 42987)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 26 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; 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
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
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Diseases
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
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Tools

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | 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 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01318 (0.00562 - 0.03093), b=3.14 (2.96 - 3.32), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.5   ±0.3 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
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).