Ornamental varieties of the Xiphophorus genus: taxonomy is obsolete and powerless.

[摘要] This paper is a short critical note. Nowadays, the number of Xiphophorus varieties has risensharply, but it has also become complicated to determine taxonomically an individual. Why? Because theproduction of new varieties is based not only on empirical selection but on intra- or interspecifichybridization, genetic engineering, and selection assisted by molecular markers. Many Xiphophorusvarieties from aquariums have spectacular coloring, incredible uniformity at the variety level andunknown origins. As a conclusion, do not strive hard to name a Xiphophorus scientifically because youcan only assume you did it correctly.

[学科分类] 水产科学

[关键词] Xiphophorus;difficult taxonomy;unknown origin.