Annotated list of livebearing fishes (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliinae) from Lake Miragoane in Southwestern Haiti, Hispaniola

Abstract

Within the Caribbean region Lake Miragoane in southwestern Haiti represents one of the most important radiation centers of livebearing fishes of the subfamily Poeciliinae. However, there is a lack of scientific studies documenting the distribution, number of species and conservation status of the fishes from that lake. In this work, an annotated list of livebearing fishes, the most well represented group of aquatic vertebrates in Lake Miragoane, is presented with the corresponding species identification and images. This is the first study in the last 40 years to capture most of the fish diversity in the lake originated from the subgenus Limia and especially in the species flock represented by the subgenus Odontolimia. It also includes two recently described species: Limia islai and L. mandibularis. Here we also report some conservation threats to the endemic freshwater fish fauna from Lake Miragoane that should be addressed to preserve the biodiversity in this important area.