Labeling guppies

[emeraldking]

As already mentioned in the general chat, I was busy creating another section on my website regarding guppies..

I did this for I think it's important to know for those who are interested in guppies that Poecilia reticulata is just one of the wild guppies there are. For most people think when we speak about guppies, that they're all Poecilia reticulata. And that's not the case when we speak about guppies. The only difference is is that the Poecilia reticulata is the most wide spread wild guppy in comparison to the other wild guppy species. This is also why all homepages, sites or literature that only mention "Poecilia reticulata" as the scientific name for the breeding forms, would be an incorrect info. The first fancy guppies ever came from mutations of the Poecilia reticulata and secondly from Poecilia obscura. Later breeding forms were mixes. And nowadays also other wild guppies as mentioned before have their influences in the current breeding forms.
If we look at the official labeling when we speak about fancy guppies (= all breeding forms of guppies), adding a scientific name to it, isn't allowed. But many stores will use it. For scientific names are only reserved for wild forms or aquarium strains which are descendants from a wild line without any interference of other species.

 

[GaryE]

I find a lot of aquarists talk about varieties when they mean species, and the difference is huge when we're trying to be serious. There are all kinds of issues with the shading and cut offs between species, but the general idea is important. You can have 15 breeder created colour varieties of a reticulata guppy, and all will be treasured and kept distinct by serious guppy keepers. But they are all one species.
I'm not saying this to you, @emeraldking , as you know more about guppies than I ever will. But I think sometimes we need to throw stuff into threads for people who are new to this and have decided to read the info.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

“Intelligence is based on how efficient a species became at doing the things they need to survive.”
― Charles Darwin

No, jellyfish do not have a centralized brain. Instead, they possess a radially distributed nervous system, also known as a nerve net, that is spread throughout their body. This nerve net allows them to respond to stimuli and coordinate basic movements.

I wonder how intelligent jellyfish are then? They have no brain. Yet how long have jellyfish been around?

Jellyfish have been swimming in Earth's oceans for at least 500 million years, pre-dating dinosaurs by a significant amount. They are one of the oldest multi-organ animals known and have been found in the fossil record.

Sorry Charlie.......

Jimmy Buffet has a song called Mental Floss- here is the opening:

I'd like to be a jellyfish
'Cause jellyfish don't pay rent
They don't walk and they don't talk
With some Euro-trash accent
They're just simple protoplasm
Clear as cellophane
They ride the winds of fortune
Life without a brain

 

[GaryE]

@TwoTankAmin
I have no idea why you posted that here, but it seems to me a jellyfish has enough of a nervous system and ability to respond to its environment to still be here. Whatever smarts it has work. We have brains (yeah, even that guy who drives us crazy does!) but there's nothing to say other networks won't work as well. Jellyfish may even outlive us after we've fouled our nest and gone west.

All, I think true, but unconnected to guppies and their speciation.

 

[gwand]

Someone is smokin jelly fish!

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

@emeraldking Are all guppies a cross between P. reticulata and P. obscura at this point or are there still pure species out there? I'm talking about fish in the trade not in the wild. Just out of curiosity, because I always want to learn something new.

@GaryE Most lay people don't know the difference between species, breed or locale. Even retailers who sell fish and should know better will mislabel things. Such as calling Tropheus sp. 'Black' Ikola, Tropheus moorii Ikola. It's not a T. moorii it's a Tropheus sp. and as yet not scientifically described. It may even be a separate distinct species on it's own.
I'm still amazed how many people think a Golden Retriever is a different species than a Dachshund. Same species, different breed.

 

[emeraldking]

@emeraldking Are all guppies a cross between P. reticulata and P. obscura at this point or are there still pure species out there? I'm talking about fish in the trade not in the wild. Just out of curiosity, because I always want to learn something new.

No, not all are crosses between these two guppy species. Yes, there are still a lot of breeders who keep the wild species, like me for instance. Wild guppies offered through the commercial trade is also a fact but at a low level.

 

[GaryE]

I kind of regret one fish I didn't bring back from Gabon. We caught guppies in the 2 inch deep drainage trench (6 inches wide) coming from beside the pumps at a Libreville gas station.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have kept them. African invasive guppies from mosquito control decades back.

I've kept reticulata straight out of Trinidad, via a Trini friend, and once had obscura here.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Based on your Sig. GaryE,

But I am not big on keeping live bearers, too many fry. I kept Montezuma swords for a while, but never a guppy or any kind.

 

[emeraldking]

If I had it to do all over again, I'd have kept them. African invasive guppies from mosquito control decades back.

I had congo wild guppies from Congo-Brazzaville for years. Sadly, they died out on me...