Color polymorphism in the Cuban endemic livebearing fish (Teloestei, Poeciliidae): Potential roles of sexual and natural selection.

Color polymorphism can be maintained in natural populations by natural selection or sexual selection. In this study, we use two different approaches to test which of these evolutionary mechanisms may explain the presence of color polymorphism in the Cuban Limia (), an endemic livebearing fish from Cuba. First, we investigate the role of sexual selection using traditional binary choice tests looking at both female and male preferences relative to varying degrees of black spotting in stimulus mates.

A phylogeny of the genus Limia (Teleostei: Poeciliidae) suggests a single-lake radiation nested in a Caribbean-wide allopatric speciation scenario.

Objective: The Caribbean is an important global biodiversity hotspot. Adaptive radiations there lead to many speciation events within a limited period and hence are particularly prominent biodiversity generators. A prime example are freshwater fish of the genus Limia, endemic to the Greater Antilles.

Biogeography of the West Indies: A complex scenario for species radiations in terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

Studies of the biogeography of the West Indies are numerous but not all taxonomic groups have received the same attention. Many of the contributions to this field have historically focused on terrestrial vertebrates from a perspective closely linked to the classical theory of island biogeography. However, some recent works have questioned whether some of the assumptions of this theory are too simplistic.

Limia mandibularis, a new livebearing fish (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) from Lake Miragoane, Haiti.

Limia mandibularis, a new livebearing fish of the family Poeciliidae is described from Lake Miragoane in southwestern Haiti on Hispaniola. The new species differs from all other species in the genus Limia by the presence of a well-developed lower jaw, the absence of preorbital and preopercular pores, and preorbital and preopercular canals forming an open groove each. The description of this new Limia species from Lake Miragoane confirms this lake as an important center of endemism for the genus with a total of nine described species so far.

A new livebearing fish of the genus Limia (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) from Lake Miragoane, Haiti.

Limia islai, a new species of livebearing fish, is described from Lake Miragoane in south-western Haiti on Hispaniola. The new species has a conspicuous barred pattern consisting of several (4-12) black bars along the body, ray 4p serrae of the gonopodium in males with 10 segments and origin of dorsal fin in females slightly behind the origin of the anal fin. Although the new species colour pattern is similar to that of the humpbacked limia Limia nigrofasciata Regan 1913, L.

Rivulus berovidesi, a new killifish species (Teleostei: Rivulidae) from western Cuba.

Rivulus berovidesi, a new killifish species, is described from a small stream in Sierra de Cajalbana, northwestern Cuba. It is readily distinguished from Rivulus cylindraceus Poey by the combination of an exclusive color pattern and meristic characters such as a d-type frontal scalation pattern (versus e-type pattern in Rivulus cylindraceus). The current diagnosis of Rivulus berovidesi based on chromatic, morphological and meristic characters is consistent with a recent molecular analysis of this genus in Cuba.