Tiger limia

Limia islai

Also known as Poecilia islai

FreshwaterFish

Tiger limia (Limia islai) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 7.0–8.2
Adult size: 2.6 in (6.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 14 gal (54 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Easy
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lake Miragoâne, Haiti
Family: Poeciliidae

Overview

Keep the tiger limia as a colony, with more females than males, which keeps courtship from focusing on any one female, and it settles quickly in a planted tank. It occupies the middle water and shows its dark barring best against green plants and a darker background. It is peaceful and can share a tank with other calm, hard-water fish, though a species colony makes the easiest and best-looking setup. Feed it a varied omnivore diet: algae and spirulina, small frozen foods such as daphnia and bloodworm, flake, and micro pellets. A group is comfortable in around 54 liters.

In the wild

Limia islai is found only in Lake Miragoâne, a lake in southern Haiti, where it lives over muddy bottoms among submerged plants. Its water is warm and hard, so aim for pH about 7.0 to 8.2 at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius. A planted tank with a soft, dark substrate, some open midwater, and steady filtration suits it, and gentle mineral hardness keeps the fish and its colors strong.

Good to know

Limia islai is a livebearer in the family Poeciliidae, described as recently as 2020 by Rodriguez-Silva and Weaver. It grows to about 6.5 centimeters and is marked with a row of dark vertical bars, usually somewhere between four and twelve, that give it the tiger name. Like other limias it bears live young and breeds readily in the aquarium.

Did you know

Lake Miragoâne has produced its own small flock of Limia species found nowhere else, several of them described only in the last few years. The tiger limia is one of the most recent additions to that Haitian lineup.