''Xiphophorus continens'', also known as El Quince swordtail or short-sword platyfish, is a
live-bearing
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...
freshwater fish in the family
Poeciliidae.
[Rauchenberger, Mary, Klaus D. Kallman, and Donald C. Morizot. "Monophyly and geography of the Río Pánuco Basin swordtails (genus Xiphophorus) with descriptions of four new species". ''American Museum Novitates''; no. 2975. (1990).] It is
endemic to the
Pánuco River basin in east-central Mexico.
Its name comes from the
Greek ''conto'', meaning short, and
Latin ''ensis'', meaning "sword". due to the species' sword size in males.
[
]
Description
''X. continens'' reaches up to in total length. It is a small, slender species, with a slender caudal peduncle and with a midlateral stripe. The maximum length of the sword is .[
]
Distribution
Headwater
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
s of the Rio Ojo Frio, north of Damian Carmona, Pánuco River drainage, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...
.
References
Further reading
*Reproductive behaviour: ; pdf: http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/ryan/Publications/2008/2008AnimBeh75%201731.pdf
External links
ADW entry
ITIS entry
continens
Taxa named by Mary Rauchenberger
Taxa named by Klaus D. Kallman
Taxa named by Donald Charles Morizot
Fish described in 1990
{{Cyprinodontiformes-stub