Poeciliidae Bonaparte 1831

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 58

Family Poeciliidae Bonaparte 1831 ( Fig. 4G ). Livebearers, Poeciliids; Olominas, Aluminas, Bobitas, Chimbolas, Pepescas

Description: Body elongate to moderately deep; up to 20 cm in length, usually less than 10 cm; mouth short, wide, terminal to superior; predorsal profile usually straight; lateral line reduced to a series of individual pits alongside of the body; pectoral fins high on the sides of the body; pelvic fins originate behind pectoral fin base, under pectoral fin rays; males of most species have a gonopodium (an elongated structure composed primarily from the 3rd–5th anal rays), which facilitates internal fertilization caudal fin usually rounded ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016, Angulo et al. 2021). Distribution: Freshwater and brackish water; eastern USA to South America and Africa (including Madagascar) (Nelson et al. 2016). Eleven genus and twenty-one species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 3; Achiridae (A), Carangidae (B), Cichlidae (C), Pomacentridae (D), Atherinopsidae (E), Rivulidae (F), Poeciliidae (G), Anablepidae (H), Belonidae (I), Hemiramphidae (J), Mugilidae (K), Gobiesocidae (L), Dactyloscopidae (M) and Lutjanidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).