Inbred Endlers?

[gmh]

I've been keeping Endlers Livebearers for nearly 3 years. I started with 5 pairs and never added new stock.
The past few months the females have been dying off on me. They tend to come down with bacterial infections or some other ailment , and die before reaching full size. The males seem fine.
Now I have mostly males and a few small females in the tank. No fry anymore.
Anyone else experience this?

 

[cellodaisy]

Well, they would have to be inbred at this point, but I can't speak to whether or not that's a problem. I have read that if you have more males than females, the females tend to get hassled and stressed, which would make them more susceptible to disease. Could you separate out the females and see if they do better? Once they're healthy, you could put a small number of males with them and start to rebuild the population. Just an idea.

 

[gmh]

When the females started to die off they actually outnumbered the males at least 2 to 1. Your idea is good however. I feel a bit sorry for the little females left that are constantly harrassed by the boys.

 

[jpappy789]

It's a good possibility actually. The lower the genetic variation the less chance that a population will survive if an infection or something of that matter breaks out. The only things that puzzles me is that it's only females. Maybe something sex-linked?

 

[gmh]

They also have long tails and elongated caudal fins. That suggests, I think, some sort of genetic defect that has presented itself. Wierd that the males look normal.

 

[cellodaisy]

I'm certainly no genetics expert, but it seems that a species with high sexual dimorphism (as Endlers have) could certainly have sex-linked genetic defects. I'm sorry about your Endlers. Sounds like time to bring in some fresh genetic material.

 

[KLGFCG]

Not to threadjack completely here, but what are everyone's thoughts on how often to add new blood? I've been wondering since I have guppies and while I'm not breeding for anything specific, I don't want to end up in a few years with overly inbred weaklings.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

it depends.... if your always taking out the adults new blood should be added more often then if you remove the fry. i think every 2-3 years you should add in new blood. i try to get new blood every year for my endlers. there are many factors such as population size and all.

 

[beautdogs]

Inbreeding is always and everywhere problematic. It is rare to have the good fortune to inbreed on stock that is not carrying deleterious recessive genes, since that is normal in any individual. Mother Nature abhors inbreeding and sets up all kinds of barriers to it, behaviorally and otherwise--and sexual reproduction in itself is developed to promote genetic diversity. You'd be wise to outcross...