''Poecilia parae'' is a species of fish from the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Poeciliidae The Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the family was t ...

which is found in northern South America from Guyana to the mouth of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

Colour polymorphism

''Poecilia parae'' are known to have a number of colour morphs in the males, at least five distinct morphs are known, while there is a single female colour form. The colour of the male is linked to the

Y-chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

. Some of the morphs are always abundant in the wild, and others are invariably rare leading to the conclusion that the colour of the males has implications for their fitness. Laboratory work has shown that the most frequent morph is also the most reproductively successful morph. However, when the females were given the choice between two different males they preferred the rare morph males over the common morph males. This suggests that there are alternative male mating strategies involved such as

sperm competition Sperm competition is the competitive process between spermatozoa of two or more different males to fertilize the same egg during sexual reproduction. Competition can occur when females have multiple potential mating partners. Greater choice and ...

and overt male-male competition, among other possible factors, which override the preferences of the female fishes.

Habitat and biology

''Poecilia parae'' is found in estuaries in areas of both fresh and brackish water. It inhabits small swamps and shallow, slow-flowing creeks located inland with very fresh water. It is also found along riverine vegetation where there is clear water and a bed of mixed sand and mud. They are an

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

species and the females give birth to 5 to 15 live young after a

gestation period In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...

of 24 days.

Species description and taxonomy

''Poecilia parae'' was described by Carl H. Eigenmann in 1894 as ''Poecilia vivipara parae'' with the type locality given as "Ditches of Rua das Mongubas of Pará, Brazil".

Carl Leavitt Hubbs Carl Leavitt Hubbs (October 19, 1894 – June 30, 1979) was an American ichthyologist. Biography Youth He was born in Williams, Arizona. He was the son of Charles Leavitt and Elizabeth (née Goss) Hubbs. His father had a wide variety of jobs (f ...

used this species as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

Micropoecilia ''Micropoecilia'' is a genus of poeciliids native to fresh and brackish water from the Amazon Basin to Trinidad. While recognized as valid by FishBase, others have considered this genus as being synonymous with ''Poecilia''. Species There are c ...

'', which

Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

recognises as a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

but does not include this species in it. Other workers support the

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic grou ...

of the genus ''

Poecilia ''Poecilia'' is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes. 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 livin ...

'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' with a number of subgenera, including ''Micropoecilia'' with ''P. (Micropoecilia) parae'' as the type species. Eigenmann used the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''parae'' in reference to the Brazilian state of

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

, where the type was collected.

Aquaria

''Poecilia parae'', especially the form ''melanozona'', is a popular fish in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade.

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q2438192

parae Green laver (), known as ''aonori'' (; ) in Japan, ''sea cabbage'' () or ''hutai'' () in China, and ''parae'' () in Korean, is a type of edible green seaweed, including species from the genera ''Monostroma'' and ''Ulva'' ('' Ulva prolifera'', ' ...

Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann Fish described in 1894