Endler/guppy mix?
- Thread starter Hebily
- Start date
Rather than get all bent out of shape over just what is what, I prefer to think of them as two distinct species with the possibility of a crossbred. I try to be careful of where I get my guppies from and hope for a minimal amount of hybridization.
I'm not into show guppies so overall for me it doesn't really matter. For those that are, I think it matters a great deal.
I'm not into show guppies so overall for me it doesn't really matter. For those that are, I think it matters a great deal.
lol.. since they will be feeders anyway, I'm not too worried about line purity... I've thought about getting a bunch of different livebearers in the same tank, and seeing what happens... I figure if I give it enough generations, I would wind up with a single breed that is somewhere between all of them, but it would be interesting... could also see which have the most dominant traits... I think it would be cool to have something the size of a sailfin mollie, with endler male coloring... Of course, if I did this, adults that were too large for the angels too eat would probably wind up living in the feeder tank for a long time... I dunno.. I might, I might not... Still have to convince the wife that I need a separate tank just for feeders.
A guppies/swordtails cross would be most unlikely; guppies are only sparingly interfertile with the mollies in the same genus, never mind the more distantly related Xiphophorus; I'd be interested to see the offspring of a swordtail/guppy mating, but my money would be on it being the same species as its mother.
They'll try to breed, on the basis that a male livebearer will prod anything.
They'll try to breed, on the basis that a male livebearer will prod anything.
Guppies won't hybridize with Xiphophorus, that's just impossible. They will cross with Endlers, Mollies, Gambusia and Limia though, and some interesting-looking hybrids have been created as a result.
Welcome to the world of taxonomy guys. Taxonomist always want to classify organisms by morphology (appearance) whereas breeders go by the fertility of the offspring. Unfortunately for us humans who like to classify everything the line between species is often very blurry. These types of discussions are what makes some of the scientific literature fun to read. There are many ways to call someone an incompetant fool in very verbose and roundabout ways.
Personally I think that crossing Endlers and guppies is a very good idea. It helps to improve diversity of genetics in the home aquaria. Purelining in aquaria does NOT maintain the sub-species. The genetic variation of the wild population cannot be maintianed in such small numbers. It cause bottlenecking of the genetics, quickly reducing the number of genes as the population moves towards homozygousity and therefore changing the population. For those of you who want to understand this process research Hardy-Weinburg Equilibrium and the bottlenecking effect.
As already described by Kyryah hybrid vigor (heterosis) can makes some very beautiful and very healthy individuals. In my guppy tank I've been swapping different types of males to generate F1's between different breeds. Many of the crosses are much more attractive than the parentals.
Personally I think that crossing Endlers and guppies is a very good idea. It helps to improve diversity of genetics in the home aquaria. Purelining in aquaria does NOT maintain the sub-species. The genetic variation of the wild population cannot be maintianed in such small numbers. It cause bottlenecking of the genetics, quickly reducing the number of genes as the population moves towards homozygousity and therefore changing the population. For those of you who want to understand this process research Hardy-Weinburg Equilibrium and the bottlenecking effect.
As already described by Kyryah hybrid vigor (heterosis) can makes some very beautiful and very healthy individuals. In my guppy tank I've been swapping different types of males to generate F1's between different breeds. Many of the crosses are much more attractive than the parentals.
