Colorful fish of Port au Prince = invasive guppies!

The canals running along the streets of Port au Prince are trashy and look like disgusting cesspools, but we sampled one along Mais Gate to see what fish were there.  A spring flows into this canal after running down a side street.  The colorful little fish living there were quite surprising.  Further investigation revealed they are guppies!  Dr. Helen Rodd (see her lab website) confirmed this, saying their coloration indicates they "have some fancy, domesticated guppies in their ancestry."

Guppies are in the same family Poeciliidae as the endemic Gambusia and Limia, which means they could out compete these native species if they ended up in Haiti's streams and lakes.

Female

We sampled in the cattails in the canal.

Releasing the fish back into the canal.

Yes, fish live here!

Clear spring water running down the street that comes out at Mais Gate.