Guppy - Poecilia reticulata
The guppy is one of the best known tropical fish for the small home aquarium. There are quite a number of varieties that combine flowing finnage with bright colours and patterns that are a joy to watch fluttering around the aquarium as the fish make their way in it.The original guppy was not close in colours or fins. Although they did exhibit some patches of colour, the native Poecila reticula, as found in the wild is a drab and ordinary specimen when compared to the results of the fish that have been carefully bred for specific characteristic over the many generations they have been kept as ornamental tropical fish.
Guppies originated in many South American countries including Brazil and Venezuela, but now has a widespread distribution throughout the world. This has been partially due to accidental release into a local water supply in some cases.
More often they were purposely placed in areas where there was an attempt to control the spread and infection of Malaria.
These fish are also called the millionfish and mosquito fish since one of its favourite foods is mosquito larvae. The adult mosquitos are instrumental in spreading Malaria in tropical countries. Many attempts have been made to reduce the population of mosquitoes by relying on the voracious appetite of guppies for their larvae.
The results have often been mixed. Unfortunately, there is often a strong, and usually negative, impact on the native species in the local waterways in the area when this does occur.
Guppies are quite easy to feed. It will do just fine on standard high quality staple food flakes for extended periods of time. If you do keep a number of livebearers, there are specific diets made just for livebearers in general.
In addition you will find that these fish do live up to their nickname of mosquito fish and relish a small feeding of mosquito larvae occasionally. Don’t worry, you don’t have to bring them in live.
There are plenty of freeze dried mosquito larvae available as a treat and they are quite dead when they have been through the freeze drying process.
Like the other livebearers, with the exception of the Molly which does have at least two scientifically recognized variants, the guppy's colour strains are not recognized as separate species. Rather, they are seen as genetically manipulated breeding triumphs.
The many specifically bred strains have a number of common names. Such names as Snakeskin, Cobra, Sunrise, Yellow and Tequila guppies all are strains derived from the common guppy.
Like other livebearers, there should always be two or more females for every male in the tank. This prevents the male from wearing out the females with his constant spawning demands. It is quite easy to identify the sexes.
The males have a gonopodium, a specially developed fin under their bellies to aid in the passing of sperm packets to the female. In most cases the female can be quite a bit larger than the male and much less colourful. The females also often show a dark spot in the abdomen where the babies are gestated when she is pregnant.
In many cases a female may suddenly get pregnant, even though there is no male in the tank with her. Do not be alarmed, one of the reproductive adaptations of the guppy is that she can accept and hold the sperm packets passed to her by a male.
She then can use them to become pregnant at a much later date. This can be weeks and even months after her last encounter with a male.
