Jenynsia heckelii ( Weyenbergh, 1874 )

Koerber, Stefan & Azpelicueta, María De Las Mercedes, 2009, On two Jenynsia taxa (Cyprinodontiformes: Anablepidae) from Argentina, originally placed in the poeciliid genus Xiphophorus, Zootaxa 2028, pp. 51-58 : 52

Jenynsia heckelii ( Weyenbergh, 1874)

The four syntypes of Xiphophorus heckelii Weyenbergh, 1874 are well preserved (MSNG 33704; fig. 1–2). All specimens are females (37.9–47.6 mm SL taken at the end of caudal skeleton) with 13–14 scales in the predorsal series, 30–32 scales in the lateral line series, a branched third anal-fin ray and a swelling between the urogenital papilla and the origin of anal fin. Those mentioned characters and the pigmentation pattern, still visible in the specimens, with slender dash-shaped spots arranged in longitudinal lines, four or five on caudal peduncle, indicate that the specimens belong to J. multidentata as some authors have previously assumed based on Weyenbergh’s description. We hereby consider Xiphophorus heckelii Weyenbergh, 1874 to be a junior synonym of Jenynsia multidentata ( Jenyns, 1842) .

Based on confirmation of this synonymy, Weyenbergh’s description of Xiphophorus heckelii in 1874 must be recognized as the first record of Jenynsia multidentata ( Jenyns, 1842) from Argentina.