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was regarded as a guppy. In fact, one of
the common names for this beautiful
species (
Poeciliawingei
) is Endler’sguppy.
Whileextensivegeographical distribution
undoubtedly contributes to the overall
colour and other characteristics of the
guppy, so do more local parameters. For
instance, in habitats where guppy
predators are common, the colours of the
males tend to be subdued. This is not
because the individual fish consciously
decrease the intensity of their coloration,
Lexicon
Guppies
Poecilia:means“variegated,
multicolored”.
reticulatameans “reticulated”
wingei:named inhonor of the
geneticistØjvindWinge (1886 -
1964)
Girardinus:named inhonor of the
scientist Charles FrédéricGirard
(1822-1895).
Lebistes:meaningunknown,
perhapsderived from theAncient
Greek“Lebias”meaning“small fish”.
Twomalesof the“JapanBlueLyretail”cross.
but is, rather, the result of predatorsbeing
able to detect brighter individuals more
easily and, thus, pick them off. As a
consequence, those males which are
genetically programmed in such a way
that they can only produce subdued
coloration, are better protected and
therefore have a greater chance of
survival andbreeding.
This trend is counterbalanced, at least to
anextent,by the fact that femaleguppies
prefer brightly-coloured males with an
orange body spot. So, in the end, the
colour characteristics of a particular wild
populationof guppies aredeterminedby
the relative intensity of the interplay
between anti-predator protection and
female sexual preferences. This is Natural
Selection inaction.
Away from the wild, Natural Selection is
largely replaced by Artificial Selection,
where the genetic plasticity of the guppy
makes it possible for preferred traits tobe
selected by guppy breeders and fanciers
anddeveloped intonewvarieties.Thishas
been going on since the guppy was first
introduced into the hobby in the early
1900’s (first imports into Germany
occurred in 1908). The result is a mind-
boggling array of body colours and an
evenwider varietyof fin sizes, shapes and
patterns.
These cultivated varieties are very
different to the original wild type guppy,
although they still retain some original
characteristics in overall body shape
(though not necessarily in size). Some
modern-day guppies are, in fact, so large
and over-developed, that they no longer
swim in thenormal horizontal orientation
of their ancestors, but at varyinghead-up
angles.
Interestingly, though–perhapspartlyasa
consequence of the introduction of
Endler’s livebearer – we are now seeing
the re-appearance of some of the older,
morebasic,varietiesof guppy, suchas the
top sword, bottom sword and double
sword. Since guppies and Endler’s
livebearers can interbreed to produce
The “Endler Scarlet” is a cross between the
GuppyandEndler’sGuppy.
Endler’s livebearer was re-discovered (by
J
OHN
E
NDLER
in 1975 in Venezuela), it, too,
