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Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur, 1821)

Sailfin molly
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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: Lesueur.

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

Marine; freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; non-migratory; depth range 0 - ? m (Ref. 55263). Subtropical; 20°C - 28°C (Ref. 2060); 40°N - 16°N, 103°W - 76°W (Ref. 55263)

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

North America: Cape Fear drainage in North Carolina, USA to Veracruz, Mexico. Introduced to many countries. Several countries report adverse ecological impact after introduction. Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 26938).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 6.7, range 5 - 9.5 cm
Max length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); 10.0 cm TL (female); common length : 3.4 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

The large sail-like dorsal fin of the male is the most distinctive characteristic of this fish; coloration can vary from green, gray to jet black; speckled forms also common (Ref. 44091).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found in still or gently flowing warm water of small creeks and drains (Ref. 44894). Occurs in ponds, lakes, sloughs, and quiet, often vegetated, backwaters and pools of streams (Ref. 5723) and also in coastal waters (Ref. 7251). Abundant in tidal ditches and brackish canals. Feeds mainly on algae (Refs. 7251; 44091), also consumes animal material: rotifers, small crustaceans (such as copepods and ostracods) and aquatic insects (Ref. 79012).

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

After 28 days gestation, this species produces 10 to 100 young.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 03 February 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Potential pest





Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial; aquarium: highly commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

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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 | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | 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=0.01288 (0.00753 - 0.02204), b=3.06 (2.92 - 3.20), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.0   ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1; mutiple spawning per year; Fec=10--300).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.