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Endler females with male guppies, Purists would be horrifed | 7 comments (7 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: My money is on the Gambusia being pre-hit. (none / 0) (#2)
by Alisa on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 03:37:22 PM PST

She's been here about two weeks now, but she's quite small. When I got the gambusia they were tiny, a third of the size of a male guppy. She's almost the size of a male guppy now. She doesn't look like she's about to drop yet, she just looks like she's a female now with a rounded tummy and a gravid spot.
The guppies are the widowers, the endler females have been prehit back at their home tank, so their first drop will all be endlers.
The extra male endler in with the gambusia is so tiny, but he's already got a line down his side and the beginning of a double swordtail. I'm interested to see what he looks like when he fully develops.

[ Parent ]

Wow, your guess is as good as mine. A couple (none / 0) (#3)
by unclescott on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 05:53:52 PM PST

Gambusia came home from Missouri with some other very small stuff from the shallows. I think the darters may be rainbows. I too was hoping that the female Gam was already hit (why I don't know). Then the other female Gambusia show his colors and made that all academic. There is still a killie? Offbeat mollie? I can't ID.

By the way, your female Gambusia may eat ALL of the Endler's fry as they are born. This habit of their's is why using them in exotic habitats has caused such problems. It was discovered that they prefer eating the fry of the local fish, which also eat mosquito larvae, to eating mosquito larvae. It is a bummer when you plant a "natural mosquito control", loose your local fishes and end up with more mossie!

If necessary, put the Gambusia in a milk or water jug. I'd go eat a gallon of dill pickles and send you the, urp, jar, if I thought there was no other way. :)

So long as the change isn't too sudden, you could probably put her on the floor if soace is an issue. In our area it is now almost balmy for December. Might be a good day to put her on the floor. ;) My Gambusia are next to a cold window for the benefit of the darters. Temperatures in the 60s hasn't phased the male Gambusia, who is as dedicated as ever to doing his "manly duty" even if it gets him chewed up by the female Gambusia.

[ Parent ]

Clarification on tanks... (none / 0) (#4)
by Alisa on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 07:38:00 PM PST

The Gam gal is in my two gallon tank with the tiny endler male. I had originally wanted to see if I could do a guppy hybrid but the males I have out in there have had no interest in her. I wonder if she isn't mature enough yet to warrant any interest. But as soon as the little endler (who doesn't even have a fully formed gonopodium he's so young) was madly in love with her as soon as I put him in. His tiny tail already has a few smal nips in it, so now he's staying low.
The ten gallon houses the female endlers and the two male guppies. I noticed these endlers are much more interested in schooling than guppies are. Learn something new every day!
I really should start cycling up my extra ten gallon for the pure endler babies. MTS strikes again!

[ Parent ]

"I noticed these endlers are much more (none / 0) (#5)
by unclescott on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 08:10:49 PM PST

interested in schooling than guppies are."

That is an interesting observation. Fish that all turn at the same time and look like a precision drill team are the real schoolers. Many livebearers kind of hang out together. That is called shoaling. However several people have noticed a difference between the two species (or if you think they are the same) or "species" in how they shoal.

Poeser, Kempkes and Isbrucker have named the Endler's livebearer, or Campoma guppy as it is also known, as Poecilia wingei in a paper in the journal Contributions to Zoology. They placed both P. wingei and P. reticulatus (the guppy) in the Poecilia subgenus Acanthophacelus.

The describers based part of the case for the new species on behavior. That is something aquarists are more likely to do than taxonomists. Poeser and Kempkes noted that a male wingei will stay with several females and youngsters in the same schoal. The male (or males?) will mate with the females and then not leave them.

Several on GL have mentioned how fry tolerant the Endler's are. Well fed guppies themselves are a lot more tolerant of fry than some other Poeciliids are (like Gambusia affinis), but cannibalism certainly is known ampng some guppies.

I'm sure there is some movement between wingei groups. But that is quite different from male guppies who are definitely into 3 minute stands. They don't interact any more with that female until the next time they are interested in procreative activity. "What's your sign?" "A fish." "That'll do."

I'm sorry I misunderstood which fish were with whom in your tanks. Glad the Endler's females are not with the Gambusia. It is time to start a sponge filter in an established aquarium. :)

I like sponges because they are not too expensive and they are easily cleaned, quick established biological filters. Some microfoods grow on their surfaces and you will see fry foraging there. And they don't suck up fry.

[ Parent ]

Endler females with male guppies, Purists would be horrifed | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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