by richard@vrx.net (Richard Sexton) 
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria,sci.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Date: 15 Jan 1995 23:10:56 -0500
Organization: Gryphon Gang North
Lines: 41
Message-ID: <3fcrkg$3r1@gold.interlog.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: gold.interlog.com
Xref: nntp.gmd.de rec.aquaria:40250 sci.aquaria:9323 alt.aquaria:22505

The rough and tumble crowd I've recently fallen in with (The Canadian Killifish Association) has some members very interested in livebearers and aquatic plants.

One fish I saw at a members house really impressed me, to the point where I now have a small tank of them. The fish is Poecilia Sp. "Endlers", or commonly called, "Endler's Livebearer".

They might be guppies. Guppies as in wild type guppies. They're about the size of wild guppies, and generally resemble them in many ways except for two things: first, they're always double swordtails, and second the coloration is different. They have 4 or five streaks of color that cover the whole body, one of bright orange, one of black one of bright metallic green and a couple of other I don't remember.

The patterns is similar but not identical on every fish, unlike wild guppies which are extremely variable.

Compared to show quality fancy guppies (ok, got a few of those, too) they nothing; they aren't half the size and of course don't have the big triangular veil tail, but because of the coloration they're quite striking; words do not adequately describe them.

It is uncertain if they are guppies either population of Poecilia reticulata a or a distinct species. Hence the current designation.

It's unlikely you'll see them in a pet stores. Weird livebearers don't show up there (for a reason - they're either grey or brown) and even these, which are quite colorful, just can't compete with the fancy guppies. You may be able to find them through local aquarium societies - through them you may find somebody in the Livebearer Association. I got mine from Jim Robinson who is the species maintenance coordinator for that association.

Anybody in Toronto, or planning to come to Toronto is certainly welcome to a gravid female (a guaranteed breeding pair!) from me or Jim.