Poecilia butleri Jordan, 1889
Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae: Poeciliinae
Genus Poecilia Bloch & Schneider, 1801
‘Catalog of Fishes’ synonyms
Generic name ‘Poecilia’ derives from the Greek word ‘poikilos’ = with different colors; the generic gender is feminine.
max. TL 70 mm in males; max. TL 80 mm in females (Riehl & Baensch, 1990: 613).
Figure 1. Poecilia butleri; adult male, lateral view, immediately after catch, specimen collected 2009-02-05, E-MEX 03-09, El Fortin, Chiapas, Mexico.
Dark gray colored anal with distal light gray stripes; caudal with multiple distal rows dark gray stripes; flanks light blue, dorsolateral anteriorly brown golden, posteriorly yellowish in males (ME, 2009, pers. obs.)
Sexual dichromatophism; blue yellowish coloration in males, females pale; gonopodium in males (ME, 2009, pers. obs.)
Pacific slope of Mexico to Panama, Central America (Riehl & Baensch, 1990: 613).
E-MEX 03-09, GPS: 13 m asl, N 15º38.895', W 93º22.537', on the road La Central - El Fortin, ca. 2 km before El Fortin, unpaved gravel road, artificial nameless brackish water channel, Pacific slope, Pijijiapan County, Chiapas Province, Mexico (ME, 2009, pers. obs.).
In small groups; coexists with Anableps dowei Gill, 1861, Cichlasoma trimaculatum (Günther, 1867) and Dormitator maculatus (Bloch, 1792) in E-MEX 03-09, brack water channel apparently without permanent connection to the sea, channel L-shaped 500 x 300 m, max. 5 m broad, 80 cm deep, no aquatic vegetation visible, Mangroves; bottom: mud, sand; highly turbid water(28 ºC, 8.1 pH, >1990 µS/cm) (ME, 2009, pers. obs.).
Herbivorous (Riehl & Baensch, 1990: 613).
IUCN Red List not evaluated.
There are no protective measures in place.
Maintenance in aquaria easy as long as algae are provided.
There is plenty of population known. The population of E-MEX 03-09 El Fortin seems to be a colorful one.
Figure 2. E-MEX 03-09, El Fortin, Chiapas, Mexico; biotope of Poecilia butleri.
Figure 3. E-MEX 03-09, El Fortin, Chiapas, Mexico; biotope of Poecilia butleri, mangroves.
Figure 4. Poecilia butleri; females; immediately after catch; highly turbid water at biotope E-MEX 03-09, El Fortin, Chiapas, Mexico.
