Alfaro cultratus, Knife livebearer

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Alfaro cultratus (Regan, 1908)

Knife livebearer
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Image of Alfaro cultratus (Knife livebearer)
Alfaro cultratus
Picture by Brill, J.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) > Poeciliidae (Poeciliids) > Poeciliinae
Etymology: Alfaro: Taken from Anastasio Alfaro zoologist of the Natural Museum of Costa Rica.
Eponymy: Don Anastasio Alfaro (1865–1951) was an archaeologist, geologist, ethnologist, zoologist and famous Costa Rican writer. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Regan.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; pelagic; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 5 - 12; non-migratory. Tropical; 24°C - 26°C (Ref. 30491)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Central America: Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 50894); 8.0 cm (female)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits waters of low to moderate velocity, between 0 and 300 m elevation. Lives on creeks of more than 0.5 m deep, in ditches and near shorelines of large rivers. Generally swims in small groups at a depth of 20 cm. Insectivorous, the young eat mainly aquatic insects and the adults feed specifically on terrestrial insects (Ref. 36880). Found in a rapidly flowing rainforest stream (Ref. 26130).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Gestation lasts for about 24 days. Produces 10 to 30, rarely more, young. Reaches sexual maturity in about 5 or 6 months.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Rodriguez, C.M., 1997. Phylogenetic analysis of the tribe Poeciliini (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae). Copeia 1997(4):663-679. (Ref. 26855)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 06 February 2020

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
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Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00912 (0.00461 - 0.01803), b=3.20 (3.03 - 3.37), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.4   ±0.45 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (tm=0.5).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100). 🛈