biology

Poecilia maylandi

Poecilia maylandi is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Poecilia maylandi rather than just read about it. In short: Poecilia maylandi, also known as the Balsas molly or Mayland's molly, is a poeciliid fish native to Mexico. P. maylandi belongs to short-fin mollies.

Key takeaways

Poecilia maylandi belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Poecilia maylandi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Poecilia maylandi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Poecilia maylandi, also known as the Balsas molly or Mayland's molly, is a poeciliid fish native to Mexico. P. maylandi belongs to short-fin mollies. It has not been the subject of any phylogenetic work, and may belong to either P. sphenops or P. mexicana species complexes. The specific epithet honors the fish photographer Hans J. Mayland. Poecilia maylandi occurs in the basins of the Balsas and Aguililla rivers on the Pacific slope of Mexico. It lives in shallow freshwater habitats, including both streams and larger rivers. Although it can tolerate substantial variation in current speed, it tends to occupy the least turbulent areas, such as sheltered parts of pools and riffles. It has been recorded over a wide range of bottom types, from fine sediment and sand to gravel and exposed rock, occasionally with larger stones. Some habitats lack conspicuous aquatic plants, while others contain algae, emergent vegetation, Potamogeton or water hyacinth. The water may be either clear or cloudy, but the species is usually found no deeper than about 1 m. In the dry season, these are reduced to residual pools. Breeding males are predominantly black, including most of the body and the dorsal and caudal fins, while the caudal fin has an orange area near its tip. The species is known to reach at least 68 mm in standard length, although larger specimens have been reported, with females reaching 110 mm and males 90 mm in total length. The presence of young in collections from March to June provides evidence of reproduction during these months, but the species may breed for a substantially greater part of the year. Diatoms, filamentous algae and phytoplankton are likely to be important foods, as they are in other mollies. In the Balsas basin, Poecilia maylandi often occurs alongside P. butleri. Several physical features distinguish them. P. maylandi has three-cusped teeth along the inner jaw, whereas those of P. butleri are simple and cone-shaped. The two species also differ in the number of rays supporting their dorsal and anal fins: P. maylandi has eight dorsal and nine anal rays, compared with nine and eight in P. butleri. P. maylandi has 19-23 gill rakers (small structures lining the gills), compared with 23-29 in P. butleri. It also has 18 rows of scales around the peduncle (narrow part of the body just before the tail), compared with 16 in P. butleri. Other sympatric fish include Ilyodon lennoni and Poeciliopsis balsas.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Poecilia maylandi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Poecilia maylandi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Poecilia maylandi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Poecilia maylandi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Poecilia maylandi

In research: Poecilia maylandi appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Poecilia maylandi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Poecilia maylandi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Endemic fish of Mexico, Fish described in 1983, Freshwater fish of Mexico, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Poecilia maylandi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Poecilia maylandi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Poecilia maylandi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Poecilia maylandi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Poecilia maylandi in simple terms?

Poecilia maylandi, also known as the Balsas molly or Mayland's molly, is a poeciliid fish native to Mexico. P. maylandi belongs to short-fin mollies.

Why does Poecilia maylandi matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Poecilia maylandi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Poecilia maylandi.