Poecilia koperi
| Poecilia koperi | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cyprinodontiformes |
| Family: | Poeciliidae |
| Genus: | Poecilia |
| Species: | P. koperi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Poecilia koperi Poeser, 2003
| |
Poecilia koperi is a poeciliid fish species native to Colombia and Venezuela.
Poecilia koperi has simple, single-cusped inner teeth, and the largest individuals examined measured 56.2 mm standard length for a female and 47.0 mm for a male. Within the Poecilia sphenops species complex, it differs from P. gillii cuneata by having fewer rays in the dorsal and anal fins and from other P. gillii subspecies by its gonopodium. Two well-separated color forms occur: populations east of Coro show a few horizontal rows of body spots with modestly marked fins, whereas those west of Coro, in the Maracaibo Basin, are more heavily marked, with males showing about ten vertical stripes, pigmented scale edges, and patterned caudal and dorsal fins; females share the same general pattern but with paler stripes, unspotted fins, and a blunter snout.[2]
Poecilia koperi ranges along the northern coast of South America, from Venezuela's Araya Peninsula to eastern Colombia.[2] It is a benthopelagic species which can survive in both fresh and brackish waters.[1] Fred N. Poeser, who described it, named the species in honor of his friend Michel Koper.[2] Populations of this species were previously identified as P. sphenops, P. sphenops vandepolli , P. sphenops cuneata , and P. vivipara .[2]
Within the genus Poecilia , P. koperi belongs to the mollies, subgenus Mollienesia. It forms a clade with P. vandepolli, P. wandae , and an undescribed species provisionally called P. cf. gillii. P. koperi and P. wandae diverged slightly earlier than about 150 thousand years ago. The two species appear to be paraphyletic, meaning that their genetic lineages are not fully separated; this may reflect contemporary hybridization and genetic introgression where their ranges meet around Lake Maracaibo.[3]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b Reis, R.; Lima, F. (2009). "Poecilia koperi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2009 e.T167754A6377203. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T167754A6377203.en . Retrieved 8 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d Poeser, Fred N. (2003). "Geographic variation in Poecilia Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Teleostei: Poeciliidae), with descriptions of three new species and designation of lectotypes for P. dovii Günther, 1866 and for P. vandepolli van Lidth de Jeude, 1887". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 116. Biological Society of Washington: 356–379. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
- ^ Ho, Adeljean L.F.C.; Pruett, Christin L.; Lin, Junda (2016). "Phylogeny and biogeography of Poecilia (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliinae) across Central and South America based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 101: 32–45. Bibcode:2016MolPE.101...32H. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016年04月03日2. PMID 27129899.