Let's Talk About Endlers

Do I think that this represents a population that is evolving towards speciation. Absolutely, is it there yet - NO!! They are way too easy to hybridize and produce fertile offspring.

I don't understand your concept that being able to hybridize means the species are not distinct species. That makes no sense to me when one looks at the livebearers in general.

As for the Endler being a distinct species, the majority of ichthyologists now agree it is.
 
Why would being able to interbreed with viable offspring be relevant to species? Can't pretty much all livebearers interbreed with relatively acceptable results?
 
Why would being able to interbreed with viable offspring be relevant to species? Can't pretty much all livebearers interbreed with relatively acceptable results?
Yeah, let me show you my halfbeak-stingray.


or were you referring to guppies, mollies and platies. ?
 
Yeah, let me show you my halfbeak-stingray.


or were you referring to guppies, mollies and platies. ?

You know full well I am referencing Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails, Platys, Mosquito Fish, and Endlers. If I recall most of them can interbreed with each other and produce viable offspring? I know that Muppies exist (Guppy-Molly) and am fairly certain that Swordtail Platys exist commonly too... so if that is key to being different species than wouldn't that make all livebearers one single species?
 
You know full well I am referencing Guppies, Mollies, Swordtails, Platys, Mosquito Fish, and Endlers. If I recall most of them can interbreed with each other and produce viable offspring? I know that Muppies exist (Guppy-Molly) and am fairly certain that Swordtail Platys exist commonly too... so if that is key to being different species than wouldn't that make all livebearers one single species?

Species will readily interbreed with species in the same genus. The platy and swordtail were crossed to give us the multitude of colour variants, and the original species are within the genus Xiphophorus. There are three wild species from which most aquarium fish have originated; Xiphophorus hellerii is the wild swordtail, X. maculatus is the Southern Platy, and X. variatus is the variable platy.

The molly and guppy are generally considered in the same genus, Poecilia. There are 32 distinct species of molly in Poecilia. As I pointed out previously, some ichthyologists have proposed separating out the three guppy species into the subgenus Acanthophacelus. But clearly Poecilia and Acanthophacelus are very close, whatever. Cross-breeding among these species is not that unlikely, though I have not myself seen these "Muppies."

Byron.
 
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