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Phallichthys amates (Miller, 1907) Merry widow livebearer |
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photo by
Slaboch, R. |
| Family: | Poeciliidae (Poeciliids), subfamily: Poeciliinae | |||
| Max. size: | 7 cm SL (male/unsexed); 6 cm TL (female) | |||
| Environment: | demersal; freshwater; pH range: 6 - 8; dH range: 9 - 19, non-migratory | |||
| Distribution: | Central America: Atlantic drainages, from southern Guatemala to Costa Rica and Panama. | |||
| Diagnosis: | 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: | 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). | |||
| IUCN Red List Status: | Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 12 August 2019 Ref. (130435) | |||
| Threat to humans: | harmless | |||