Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846

Esmaeili, Hamid Reza & Hamidan, Neshat, 2023, Inland fishes of the Arabian Peninsula: Review and a revised checklist, Zootaxa 5330 (2), pp. 201-226 : 219

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5330.2.2
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AA61E68D-3A1B-45BD-821F-E6AD862F6808
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8253172
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EC87BD-FFAD-0A33-80F4-FE07FD34FC46
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846
status

Treatment

46. Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846 View in CoL View at ENA ―Mexican Molly― Exotic

Taxonomy. Original description: Poecilia sphenops Valenciennes, 1846:130 View in CoL , Pl. 525-526, bottom [ Veracruz, Mexico; Lectotype: MNHN B-0930 ]. Synonyms: Poecilia s pilurus Günther, 1866 View in CoL .

Status in the Arabian Peninsula. First record from Saudi Arabia, and UAE by Al-Kahem-Al-Balawi et al. (2008) and Freyhof et al. (2020), respectively.

General distribution. Both slopes of southern North America and central America: Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Introduced in Tobago, Society Islands and elsewhere. Habitat: freshwater, brackish.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia: Al-Ahsa Oasis and adjacent Al Asfar Lake in eastern province, coastal wetlands in Salwa, north of Qatif and south of Jubail. UAE: Ruwayyah.

Economic importance. Valuable for the aquarium trade.

Reasons of introduction. Ornamental fish industry.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).