Cuban Limia

COMMON NAME: Cuban Limia

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Linda vittata (see under Limia melanogaster).

SYNONYM: Poecilia vittata.

DESIGNATION: Tropical.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Cuba.

SIZE: Males about 6.5 cm (2.5 in); females up to 10 cm (4 in).

WATER PREFERENCES: Not too fussy but neutral to slightly alkaline water at around25`C (77°F) is quite suitable. May benefit from the addition of a little salt (no more than1 teaspoonful per gallon/4.5 litres).

DIET: Should include a vegetable component, such as encrusting algae, but will also take arange of dried and live foods.

BREEDING: Cuban Limia males are not asvigorous as their Blue Limia counterparts. Otherwise, reproduction follows similar lines; up to 50 fry are produced every 4-6 weeks.

DESCRIPTION: This peaceful, attractive species occurs in, at least, two forms in the wild: spotted and unspotted. It will easily hybridize with other Limias and possibly, some other Poeciliids.

Cuban Limia Information

• The Cuban Limia is also known as banded limia, Cuban topminnow, Cuban molly and tabai. The scientific name of the fish is Poecilia vittata while in Hawaii it is popularly known as tabai.
• The size of the male fish would grow around 50 mm while the female grow less than 1oo as well.
• This fish specie has a white colored belly with a white blue colored back along with silver colored side of the fish. The scales located along the flank part of the fish are edged black.
• It is quite easy to differentiate between the male and the female breeds of the fish. The female fish has a blue colored band across the vent. The coloration of the fins is somewhat different from the female to some extent. The dorsal fin and the tail are pigment with yellow orange colors that are spotted with blue black specks. The female fish on the other hand is less attractive than the male as they are decorated with black specs irregularly. At most cases the female fish appears without any color.
• The native place of the fish is the palaces like the coastal lagoon, lakes, estuaries, streams and such. In Cuba the fish is found in large numbers in the swampy mangrove regions and such. The fish is commercially sold in the regions like the Isle of Pines. In United States the fish specie is reported to be found only in Hawaii. In Hawaii the regions known as the Oahu and a large sized island Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park has the fish in abundance. The fish mainly caught from the lower ridges of the streams and coastal marshy areas of brackish and saline waters.
• The fish lives on worms, crustaceans, vegetable matters and insects. During the spawning season the female fish can lay and hatch out 100 fry on every 4 to 6 weeks of gap.