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Alternate Title

A New Species of Poeciliid Fish of the Genus Poecilia from Hispaniola, with Reinstatement and Redescription of P. dominicensis (Evermann and Clark)

Abstract

Exploration of the streams and lakes of Hispaniola and available collections of poeciliid fishes from that island are discussed, followed by the taxonomic history and generic status of the two species described. The genera Limia and Mollienesia were synonymized with Poecilia by Rosen and Bailey (1963) and the former Mollienesia dominicensis of Evermann and Clark (1906) became a junior homonym of Limia dominicensis of Valenciennes (1846). Rosen and Bailey, therefore, renamed M. dominicensis of Evermann and Clark as Poecilia montana. Because Mollienesia is herein retained as a synonym of Poecilia but Limia is reinstated as a valid genus, Poecilia dominicensis of Evermann and Clark is no longer a junior homonym of Limia dominicensis of Valenciennes. The name montana, therefore, becomes a junior objective synonym of Evermann and Clark's dominicensis. The new species herein described, although available to previous authors, had been hitherto confused with Poecilia dominicensis of Evermann and Clark. Both species are superficially similar but clearly distinct and more closely related to each other than either is to any of the other species of Poecilia. They are restricted to the island of Hispaniola and show character displacement in the several localities where they occur together.

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