(http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/sailfinmolly/xsailfinmolly.JPG.pagespeed.ic.nXT-9ROZka.jpg)
SAILFIN MOLLY
Order - Cyprinodontiformes
Family - Poeciliidae
Genus - Poecilia
Species - latipinna
Taxonomy
The sailfin molly was originally described in 1821 as Mollienesia latipinna by the naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, oft noted as one of a number of persons instrumental in the founding of a well known experimental settlement at New Harmony, Indiana during the 1820's. Lesueur based his description of the sailfin molly upon specimens from freshwater ponds in the vicinity of New Orleans, Louisiana. However, Lesueur described other collections of the sailfin molly as Mollienesia multilineata in 1821, the same year in which he described M. latipinna. This conflict created confusion and eventually necessitated a ruling by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). In 1959, the ICZN placed precedence on the name Mollienesia latipinna Lesueur 1821.
A number of other synonyms exist, most of which are based on specimens from other areas of the sailfin molly's rather large native range. These include Limia poeciloides Girard 1858, Poecilia lineolata Girard 1858, and Limia matamorensis Girard 1859. In a landmark work on poeciliid fishes, Donn Rosen and Reeve Bailey (1959) noted the priority of Poecilia Bloch and Schneider 1801 with regards to Mollienesia Lesueur 1821, thereby relegating Mollienesia to the synonymy of Poecilia. Consequently, the proper binomial for the sailfin molly is Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur, 1821).
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/sailfinmolly/sailfinmolly.html
What a beautiful specimen in that pic. I could raise them outside here during most months. Alas, they're way too small for me. They'd turn Barb on. She likes Endlers. They should turn Dennis on.
Quote from: LizStreithorst on September 16, 2014, 07:09:25 PM
What a beautiful specimen in that pic. I could raise them outside here during most months. Alas, they're way too small for me. They'd turn Barb on. She likes Endlers. They should turn Dennis on.
I think that they can get 5" inches???
I just did the conversion from mm to in and you're right! I wonder how many of them are as beautiful as the one in the pic? I think I'll do a bit of looking around for folks who breed them. Doesn't hurt to look :-[
Hey, Liz, There are some that are all black and around 5" and native to the U.S. I was looking into them, to see how easy they were to raise. No heater needed. They have to have a 30 gal. tank, I think a long would be better. Look at Aquabid under native fishes, I think that is where I found them.
I like the colorful ones better than the black. I looked om auabid last night and sent an inquiry to the guy selling them.
God help me, the LAST thing I need is more fish ::)
Let me know if he has any. I would like to try those also. I need to read up about these more. There are alot of very pretty native fish out there, I just need to find them. :D
Quote from: LizStreithorst on September 16, 2014, 07:09:25 PM
..... They should turn Dennis on.
They certainly do!!! A few years back, Rusty Wessel was giving a talk at on of the club meetings and he brought some Swords & Mollies that he had collected in Mexico and Central America. They were all just beautiful fish, but some of them do get rather large.
Dennis
Quote from: wiggs on September 17, 2014, 08:30:38 AM
Let me know if he has any. I would like to try those also. I need to read up about these more. There are alot of very pretty native fish out there, I just need to find them. :D
Wiggs, as a kid I used to seine red bellied daces for bait and would put the leftovers in my native tanks in the basement rack. What I began to learn is that the males became extremely beautiful with red, black, and yellow coloration during mating seasons. Take a look at those guys!!!
Ron,I really like the Dacers when they are in mating color, but they are rather plain when they are out of breeding. I was also looking at them, but didn`t like them when they were plain. Will keep looking for something different but colorful for our tanks.
Jan, the guy on Aqubid never responded to my question ???
Quote from: wiggs on September 18, 2014, 02:22:26 PM
Ron,I really like the Dacers when they are in mating color, but they are rather plain when they are out of breeding. I was also looking at them, but didn`t like them when they were plain. Will keep looking for something different but colorful for our tanks.
Small bluegills and/or american flagfish (great algae eaters as well as colorful!)
Just racking my brain from the past.
Liz, maybe he got busy and forgot. Just keep looking.
Ron ,I haven`t looked at Flagfish yet, do they keep there color all of the time?
Quote from: wiggs on September 19, 2014, 06:08:17 AM
Ron ,I haven`t looked at Flagfish yet, do they keep there color all of the time?
Pretty much. I know you'll feed them right, so that shouldn't be a problem.