Wild Guppies

[simonts]

In my local fish shop a few days ago i noticed they had just brought in stock of 'Wild Guppies' Ive never come across this variety before, Is there anything in the name of being Wild or would they mix with my other Guppies without problems?

 

[Puffer_freak]

I have seen these as well, and I like them so much more than normal guppies. They are unspoilt and precious, if only I didn't have pufers, I might get some...


...hang on! Is that a good place I spy?

 

[WILDER]

Some people call wild guppys endlers, I've never seen any at my lfs, I asked once if they would be getting any and they didn't no what they were.

 

[WILDER]

Also people tend not to like wild guppys being bred with guppys as their strain will be weakened.

 

[guppymonkey]

I have not seen them sold as "wild" guppies but I have seen them sold as feeder guppies. If they are the REAL wild guppies and not endlers they are usually a lot smaller than domestic breeds.

 

[simonts]

These ones had really great colours/markings, hopefully i can get back to the shop before they are gone

 

[BobK]

I've read that Endler's and Guppies/Wild Guppies are not the same but they can be interbred.

 

[Tanks4myfish]

I have a dozen feeders, male and female with 6 male fancies and 1 female fancy . I'm waiting to see what the fry is going to look like. The fry are only about two weeks old so I can't tell yet.

 

[GuppyDude]

wild gups are not endlers, they are very simular and can even interbreed but are not the same

 

[enchanted]

Also, interbreeding True wild guppys with retail guppys doesn't weaken the strain, only affects the looks. It actually strengthens the strain because of all the inbreeding that has been done to produce many of the guppy strains we have today.

 

[Kittycat]

How can you tell between wild guppies and endlers?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi simonts

If you are lucky enough to have found some true wild caught guppies, get them; they are not easy to get these days. Ask the owner or manager about their origins; he or she should know or be able to find out from the distributor.

Years ago, guppies (which were then all wild, or bred from wild ones) were my first fish, and I would love to have some of them again. They were brightly colored and had certain patterns among their markings. Some of these markings had names such as, lace, peacock, birds eye, chain, and others. They were sturdy fish, easy to raise, and each new generation would have different colors and patterns than the ones before.

Guppies sold these days have been over bred to where they have little resemblance to anything nature created. While they are lovely as they are, their tails and fins are overly long, their size is huge compared to natural ones, and they no longer have the array of patterns the wild ones have.

Endlers are different fish entirely, but they do interbreed. If you are looking for wild guppies or Endlers, beware that the lfs does not sell you real males, but substitute "feeder" guppies for the females. This has been known to happen, and while they look the same as wild females, future generations will lose their desired markings.

Crossing any of these species will only result in smaller, and weaker specimens, and they will become poor quality fish that no one will want to buy.

 

[BobK]

Inchworm, I'm not sure I understand. I thought feeders were basically just "mutts" and had enough genetic diversity to be capable of bearing strong offspring and they were considered feeders because they haven't been selectively bred for any of the qualities the way "fancy" guppies were. Could you clarify for me? Thanks. I remember keeping feeder guppies as a kid (20 years ago) and you'd get a wide variety of different looking offspring from them. Is it not the case anymore?