My guppies had some fry. But they are endlers?
- Thread starter Born4spd
- Start date
You can't really. It's most likely that "endlers" are not a separate species at all, but only a localized variation of poecilia reticulata. You're in for a treat though, many offspring of fancy guppies and "wildtype" endlers end up having stunning and interesting patterns and finnage. You may be on your way to creating your very own strain of guppies!
Wild guppies also have a very similar pattern to Endler's. I thought the classification was still debated? If it's not, could you provide a linky?
Debated or not, the fact that their offspring will breed/interbreed freely and provide viable offspring for innumerable generations says something for them being the same species. I'd like to know what exactly separates the two as species... Even within the endler population, there is such a vast disparity in possible patterns that it seems kind of silly. On top of that, the thinner caudal penducle, swoosh mark, and various tail shapes "indicative of endlers" can all be found within the normal variation for poecelia reticulata. Supposedly female endlers show a preference for other endlers over male guppies though, so maybe they are a different species after all...
If you are getting fry from a guppy, they are not endlers. they may be a cross because as others have noted they will cross rather too readily. To get more info on endlers, try endlersrus. There are people there who are quite knowledgeable about them including two professional breeders. Most of us who keep endlers can tell rather quickly what we are lookin at. Its no mystery once you really look at a guppy and an endler side by side. The endlers, as has been said, resemble wild guppies more than fancy guppies and as others have pointed out, some of the crosses can be quite stunning. In my opinion, calling a platy a sword does not make it so and calling an endler a guppy also does not make it so. In both cases crosses can be made and produce viable and fertile offspring, in the case of the sword platy the offspring is called a variatus.
Either way, they're bloody livebearers, and will produce more fry than you'll know what to do with. Just be honest and don't try to pass off mixed breeds as pure Endler's, and feed the excess fry to other fish. It may seem harsh, but if you only keep the best you'll end up with some decent stock in the long run.
