''Micropoecilia'' is a genus of

poeciliid Poeciliidae are a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes of the order Cyprinodontiformes, the tooth-carps, and include well-known live-bearing aquarium fish, such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail. The original distribution of the fam ...

s native to fresh and

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water from the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. While recognized as valid by

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

, others have considered this genus as being synonymous with ''

Poecilia ''Poecilia'' is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes. These livebearers are native to fresh, brackish and salt water in the Americas, and some species in the genus are euryhaline. A few have adapted to livi ...

''.

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * ''

Micropoecilia bifurca ''Micropoecilia'' is a genus of poeciliids native to fresh and brackish water from the Amazon Basin to Trinidad. While recognized as valid by FishBase, others have considered this genus as being synonymous with ''Poecilia''. Species There are c ...

'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1909) * '' Micropoecilia branneri'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1894) (Branner's livebearer) * '' Micropoecilia minima'' ( W. J. E. M. Costa &

Sarraf Sarraf or al-Sarraf (; ) is an Arabic and Persian surname. It translates to money changer Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular ...

, 1997)

Related species

* '' Micropoecilia parae'' ( C. H. Eigenmann, 1894) (Melanzona guppy) * '' Micropoecilia picta'' ( Regan, 1913) (Swamp guppy) The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus is '' Micropoecilia parae'' but this is not included within the genus by Fishbase but other workers have recovered this species within the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Micropoecilia'' of ''Poecilia'', arguing that ''Micropoecilia'', alongside the subgenera '' Acanthophacelus'', ''

Limia ''Limia'' is a genus of livebearing fishes belonging to the Cyprinodontiform family Poeciliidae. It comprises 22 described species found in fresh, brackish, saltwater, and hypersaline habitats of the Greater Antilles islands in the Caribbea ...

'', ''

Pamphorichthys ''Pamphorichthys'' is a genus of poeciliids native to the Amazon, Paraguay, São Francisco and Itapicuru basins in South America. Some authorities consider ''Pamphorichthys'' to be a subgenus of ''Poecilia''. Species There are currently six r ...

'' and ''

Mollienesia ''Poecilia'' is a genus of fishes in the family Poeciliidae of the order Cyprinodontiformes. These livebearers are native to fresh, brackish water, brackish and salt water in the Americas, and some species in the genus are euryhaline. A few have ...

'' should all be retained as subgenera of ''Poecilia'', which is remains a monopyletic clade in this classification. This is partly to ensure the conserving of the

guppy The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) was initiated by the United States Navy after World War II to improve the submerged speed, maneuverability, and endurance of its submarines. (The "Y" in the acronym was added for pronouncea ...

(''Poecilia reticulata'') as a species within the genus due to its familiarity as a study organism.

References

External links

Petfish.net: Description of the painted guppy Global Biodiversity Information Facility: Micropoecilia paraeZipcodezoo.com: Branner's Livebearer
Cyprinodontiformes Freshwater fish genera Taxa named by Carl Leavitt Hubbs Ray-finned fish genera {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub pl:Micropoecilia