Poecilia sphenops, Molly : aquarium

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Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846

Molly
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Poecilia sphenops
Male 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: Valenciennes.

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

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.5 - 8.2; dH range: 11 - 30; non-migratory. Tropical; 18°C - 28°C (Ref. 13371); 24°N - 1°S, 101°W - 69°W

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

Central and South America: Mexico to Colombia. Often confused with Poecilia mexicana (Ref. 1739).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 3.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.5 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 102977); common length : 4.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Feeds on worms, crustaceans, insects, plant matter. The black variety (Black molly) is a very popular aquarium fish and is marketed throughout the world (Ref. 1739). In the aquarium it feeds on green algae and also readily accepts dried food (Ref. 1672). Minimum aquarium size 60 cm (Ref. 51539).

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

Produces 20 to 150 young after 28 days gestation.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Wischnath, L., 1993. Atlas of livebearers of the world. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., United States of America. 336 p. (Ref. 26130)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 22 March 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: highly commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
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Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

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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 | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | 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=0.01514 (0.00873 - 0.02625), b=3.12 (2.97 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.0   ±0.34 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm<1; multiple spawning per year; Fec=20-150).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 299 [141, 613] mg/100g; Iron = 1.23 [0.70, 2.19] mg/100g; Protein = 16.9 [15.7, 18.1] %; Omega3 = 0.276 [0.125, 0.582] g/100g; Selenium = 22.7 [10.9, 46.7] μg/100g; VitaminA = 85.1 [29.6, 226.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 2.88 [1.99, 4.14] mg/100g (wet weight);