Goodeid Fish

COMMON NAMES: Ameca or ButterflyGoodeid

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ameca splendens

DESIGNATION: Tropical but will tolerate temperatures down to around 20°C (70°F).

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Rio AMRca basin in Mexico.

SIZE: Males up to about 7.5 cm (3 in); females around 9 cm (3.5 in).

WATER ['REFERENCES: Not too critical but slightly hard, alkaline conditions are preferred. Wide temperature range tolerated- 20-29°C (70-84°F).

DIET: Will eat virtually anything but require a regular vegetable component.

BREEDING: In typical Goodeid fashion. Males produce free sperm (as opposed to the spermatozeugmata, or sperm packets, found in the Poeciliinae) which females cannot store. Therefore, each brood arises from a separate mating (again, unlike the Poeciliinae which can produce several broods following a single mating). Eggs are fertilised in their sacs (follicles) but the females ovulate and the embryos complete their development inside the ovarian cavity. Here, they receive nourishment from the mother via specialized embryonic structures known as trophotaeniae and grow to a huge size prior to birth.

At birth, Goodeid fry are many thousand times heavier than the eggs from which they developed. This type of reproductive strategy is known as viviparity - true live bearing. See chapter on Fish Reproduction for further details.

DESCRIPTION: A nzeca splendenswas the first Goodeid species to make an impact on the hobby, in the mid-1970s. Since then, it has attained considerable popularity among livebearer enthusiasts. It is also the most widely available species in the subfamily and, while not being spectacularly coloured, nevertheless more than makes up for this with its interesting reproductive biology.

Owing to the large size of the embryos, broods are on the small side, 30 being an excellent figure for a fairly large female. Some specimens become fin nippers with age and are, therefore, not ideal community tank fish.

Goodeid Fish Information

• The fish is a live bearer found in the regions of Mexico and Central America. The fish is also found in the rivers of the central highlands in Mexico.
• The fish is very hardy in nature. The fish may survive in all most all water types and temperature conditions.
• The fish is mainly found in large population in streams.
• The male fish are more colorful than the female fish. They have a bright orange or red colored caudal peduncle with a steel blue body.
• The fish has a pointed head with a robust body structure. The dorsal fin of the fish is located far back and it is larger and rounder in shape than those of the female fish.
• Since the fish is so hardy in nature the maintenance of a certain temperature in the tank would be not a matter of concern for you. The fish can actually withstand extremes of temperature ranging from 15 degree Celsius to 33 degree Celsius.
• The embryo of the fish hatch in the womb of the fish.