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Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846

Molly
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Image of Poecilia sphenops (Molly)
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 Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | 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

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

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);