doesn't have an obvious gonopodium, like the guppies and other Poeciliids, could it be a member of the Goodieds? They have a different looking anal fin. It is almost rounded and has a couple of fin rays which are notched. These carry the sperm to the female. They must mate after every batch of fry is born. The female can not carry sperm from previous matings like the guppies, et al.
http://home.clara.net/brachydibble/Atn_toweri.htm
That Fish Ark Mexico is a useful site. http://www.goodeids.com/ might be also. I wonder if you would recognize you male from among their images.
For a further discussion of differences, go here:
http://www.livingfish.co.uk/livebearers/whatlive.htm
The Asian half-beaks are from a third family (sometimes sub family) of livebearers. The Central American Anableps (four-eyes and the South American Jenynsia (the one sided livebearer, but they seem to be able to mate from both sides anyway) are a fourth family of livebearing aquarium fishes.
There are also many other species of livebearing fishes (including sharks, rays. California surf perches and the venerable Coelacanth. There are also fish "on the road" from being internal fertilizers of eggs which are later laid to being full time livebearers. There are even levels of nourishment given to the embryos carried by livebearers! Estimates vary wildly, in part because some counters limit themselves to potential aquarium fish when they define livebearer, but there may be over 1,000 livebearing fishes. That is not a huge percentage of the 28,000 - 30,000 fishes described, but the influence some of them have had and have on the aquarium hobby is huge. :)
For a little bit more on different livebearers see...
http://web.archive.org/web/20040117182224/www.guppylog.com/story/2003/11/11/203510/74
And let us know if you have just a young Poeciliid or a Goodied. Thanks!
[ Parent ]
Immediate Help
