#lebistes

[aquariuminfobureau]

The guppy, Lebistes reticulata, is a popular poecilid toothcarp native to the Guyanas in northern South America, as well as adjacent Trinidad and Tobago, and nearby parts of Brazil. Because the word 'guppy' is likewise applied to similar species, L. reticulata may be distinguished as the Trinidadian guppy, being native but not endemic to that island, that was formerly connected to the Guyanas when the sea level was lower. Other Caribbean populations of this species appear to originate from human assisted dispersals.

Wether indigenous or introduced, guppies are found in varied natural environments such as turbid ponds to clear streams. Most typically in their natural range, they are found in freshwater streams close to the coast. Commonly they are more numerous in the shallows of pools and streams, with fewer individuals being present in deeper water. As a behaviorally flexible species with good environmental tolerance, guppies have adapted to colonize and thrive in anthropogenic environments, such as irrigation ditches. Their presence in brackish environments is long since noted, but it is secondary to their presence in freshwater.

Beyond this, the guppy has been widely introduced around the world as a predator of larval mosquitos, one of a few fishes deliberately favored for this purpose. They have also been released by aquarists. Guppies have now colonised dozens of countries where the climate is suitable. For example they are introduced into northern to southern Africa, South and East Asia, mainland and insular Southeast Asia, Hawaii, Australia, New Guinea, Columbia, and Mediterranean Europe. Once it is introduced to a locality, the guppy can double its populations size in around a years time, and then begin to expand into surrounding areas.

Wild female guppies are uniformly grey, and are both longer and deeper bodied than the male fish. Male guppies display polymorphic color patterns, specifically combinations of black, white, orange, yellow, green and iridescent spots, lines and speckles. This species has also been bred into various ornamental color and finnage morphs, a variety of which are very widely traded. Interestingly, female fish belonging to certain domesticated morphs, may express colour and patterns that are normally only present in males, especially in their caudal region. Juvenile guppies resemble females and are independent from birth.

Often the guppy is regarded as a species within the bloated genus Poecilia, but such a usage of that genus is phenetically too disparate to be informative, and if it is monophyletic, it would need to include monophyletic clades for which good genus names are already available. Some confusion does exist wether the guppy genus, is correctly Lebistes or Acanthophacelus. In any case, the guppy is quite a different fish than the related, and more specialised mollies.

Whatever nomenclature is correct, these fish definitely display strong sexual dimorphism in their size, as well as their coloration. Male guppies are the smaller sex, growing in the wild to 1.5 to 2 centimeters, whereas the females grow to 2 to 2.5 centimeters long. Thus wild guppies measure between 1/2 and inch, and 1 inch. Domesticated morphs are under selection for visual impact, so they are generally less diminutive than their wild progenitors. Typically males of domesticated guppy varieties, are at least 2.5 centimeters or 1 inch long, and females are 4 to 6 centimeters, or about 1 and a 1/2 to over 2 inches.

Viviparity is rare in fishes, although it has evolved independently in a number of fish clades. The best studied and most internationally familiar of the viviparous or livebearing fishes, are the killifishes called poecilid toothcarp. Of all the recognized poecilids, which evolved in North American waters before the Panamanian land bridge formed, only one species spawns externally, following internal fertilization. Like viviparity, the latter itself is rare and has sporadically evolved among fishes. Without internal fertilization, the subsequent evolution of viviparous birth, would have been impossible.

One of the ways in which male and female guppies may be distinguished, is that as in other poecilid fishes, the male sex posses anal fins that have modified by natural selection, into a slender structure known as the gonopodium. This is a kind of penis facilitating penetrative sex, and therefore internal fertilization, which improve the chances of the male fish fertilizing the ova of a female. Internal fertilization in poecilid fishes is thought to have evolved because of sperm competition between the males.

Wild guppies are essentially insectivorous, also eating foods such as benthic microalgae and general detritus. In wild environments their dietary composition may vary by the season. Guppies are best considered as omnivorous, broad spectrum feeders. This fact together with their environmental tolerances, has enabled the species a great deal of success, where it has been translocated into suitably warm environments by human agency. In cooler countries such as New Zealand, introduced guppies survive only if introduced to environments such as warm springs

The environments where guppies flourish can be a little on the warm side, and in experimental condition, they grow optimally at 28 degrees centigrade. However the temperature in their natural habitat, may vary over the course of a day, to around 7 degrees at some localities, so guppies have naturally evolved a wide tolerance of ambient water temperature. In their wild habitats they experience temperatures of 20 to 29 degrees, and sometimes higher.

Although specific guppy populations have adapted to habitats where temperatures may be 40 degrees, this is atypical, and even with acclimatization, the temperature should never be allowed to rise so high. Temperatures of even 32 degrees are harmful and potentially lethal to guppies, and they almost all die at 39 degrees. Towards the lower end of their tolerances, temperatures that are permanently as low as 20 degrees are suboptimal, and 15 degrees is their lower limit. So it may be said that guppies are truly tropical fishes, preferring a temperature of 24 to 29 degrees.

Guppies are also inhabitants of both fresh and brackish waters. They typically inhabit waters with a salinity below 10 ppt, and of course, they thrive in freshwater. However with acclimatization, they do fine at higher water salinities of even 25 ppt. Nonetheless, in at least some environments where they are native, guppies are less common downstream of where the tide influences salinity. Probably competition with other, related species, and certain types of predation, influence their native distribution. They are proven to tolerate a water pH value between 5 and 9, but a neutral pH seems to be optimal.

Guppies are by now traditional community fishes, having been bred in aquarium settings for generations. In fact their prolific breeding may be a problem, when males and females are cohabited together. Keeping guppies together in small numbers seems to make them more aggressive, than when larger numbers of them are housed together. Live plants growth helps to prevent aggression, and will help any newborns to survive, until they are too large to be preyed on. Guppies themselves sometimes eat babies of their own species, but this is not especially frequent.

When males and females are housed together, the females ought to outnumber the males. And their presence will make the males more boisterous towards one another, with biting and chasing behaviors, that can damage their fins and this sometimes leads to infections. Males may also sexually harass the female fish. But the personality trait of aggressiveness varies in this species, and depending on the individual fishes, its actually possible to keep only male guppies together, without the presence of females to stir competition.

Guppy males are not the only fishes to have long, colorful fins. For this reason conflict can arise between guppies and Siamese fighting fishes, in which situations the latter gouramies are dominant, and can kill the guppies. In the aquarium guppies can become the targets of fin nipping behaviors by other species, being slow swimmers, making them an easy, and also a visually obvious target. Fortunately though, although certain unusually aggressive male guppies are an exception to the rule of thumb, guppies are peaceful towards other fish species.

In fairly recent years the Trinidad guppy has been joined in the aquarium trade, by a related but disputed species, L. wingei, the Endler's guppy. There are differences between L. wingei and archetypical L. reticulata, including body shape, but the ordinary guppy can be variable. The two species are thus so similar, that some writers have regarded L. wingei as a race or subspecies of L. reticulata, one that is localized in northern Venezuela and deserving of conservation. Certainly both species of Lebistes produce fertile hybrids, and as with human races, no easy delineation of the two morphs can be made. The truth is that L. reticulata is in nature a variable fish, which is why they can be bred into different morphs so easily in captivity.

[danireef]

Guppy: quello che tutti vorrebbero sapere e nessuno purtroppo osa chiedere

Guppy: quello che tutti vorrebbero sapere e nessuno purtroppo osa chiedere - Introduzione a cura di DaniReef Con questo articolo iniziamo la collaborazione con il grande Maurizio Vendramini, meglio conosciuto con il soprannome di Zio Pesce. Un Acquariofilo appassionato ed estremamente competente. Abbiamo avuto modo di parlare a lungo in questo periodo e devo dire che condividiamo la stessa visione dell’acquariofilia, la differenza è solo sul dolce […]

Un nuovo articolo su http://www.danireef.com/2021/01/11/guppy-quello-che-tutti-vorrebbero-sapere-e-nessuno-purtroppo-osa-chiedere/

Guppy: quello che tutti vorrebbero sapere e nessuno purtroppo osa chiedere

#Guppy, #Lebistes, #PesceMilione, #PesciDiAcquaDolce, #PoeciliaReticulata, #Poecilidi

- by Maurizio Zio Pesce

[antoniocandidoaquarismobras-blog]

Eu e o Valdir da @lojamundoaquatico mundoaquatico Reposted from @lojamundoaquatico - Pessoal, vejam quem veio nos visitar! @antoniocandidoaquarismobrasil #lojamundoaquatico #eventomundoaquatico - #regrann #aquarismo #aquarismobrasil #aquario #aquariumsdaily #lebistes #loja (em Mundo Aquático) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByXyGiMpVnr/?igshid=1pc7q98h023br

[aquaclubaquarios]

Lebiste Half Blood #lebiste #guppys#guppy #small #tank #nano #plant #water #american #brazil #brasil #peixe #coleta #vermelho #trio https://www.instagram.com/p/BvdjkaKh83P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13yr29ugmy0i3

[psangelotti-blog]

Moscow Full Red #lebiste #guppyriopreto #guppy #guppies #moscowfullred

[aquariuminfobureau]

Fish keepers, and even the professionally written texts intended for consumption by aquarists, are prone to what philosophers call faulty generalization. Specifically I am now considering the livebearers, and the commonplace assertion, nowadays, that they require hard and alkaline waters in order to thrive. This fact makes these fishes appealing to people in areas with such a water supply, not least because such water is by nature more buffered against attempts to make it more soft and acidic, than is soft and acidic water when you want to make it harder and more alkaline.

In principle, a livebearer is any fish that does not spawn externally. But to aquarists it refers to 'livebearing toothcarp' or those cyprinodontoid fishes with such a life history. These fish are not a natural descent group, independent of those retaining the external spawning habit; which is to say, livebearing toothcarp' are polyphyletic. However the most common such toothcarp' in the aquarium are a natural or monophyletic group, among the poecilid subclade. Aquarists who do not have a special hobbyist interest in 'wild livebearers', are almost always referring to the mollies, guppies, platies, and swordtails.

Mollies in the wild are fishes of estuaries and even shallow seas, and in laboratory conditions, they grow better in brackish conditions than in freshwater, and not well at a low pH. Natural selection surely shapes the tolerances of wild molly populations, as in laboratory studies, shortfin mollies (Mollienisia sphenops complex, including the black molly) tolerate up to 8 ppt, and introduced mollies of this type, have colonised marine environments without further human assistance, in the Gulf of Thailand. Also laboratory studies indicate that the pH when keeping black mollies, a donesticated morph of shortfin molly, should not drop lower than 7.

The other popular mollies, the sailfin mollies (M. latipinna complex), are naturally present in marine environments in the wild, and experimentally tolerate salinities of even 70 ppt or above, and do best at 10 to. 25 ppt. The ecological preference of shortfin and sailfin mollies, for different levels of salinity, holds not only in their natural range, but also where both are introduced in the Gulf of Thailand. Shortfin mollies have colonised the inner waters of the Gulf of Thailand, where salinity is reduced, and sailfin mollies have colonised further. As with shortfin mollies, they breed and grow normally at a pH value above 7, and thus are not suitable for the softwater aquarium either.

Guppies (Lebistes reticulata) might be close evolutionary allies of the mollies, yet they are also very different animals, as they lack the special herbivorous and saltwater specializations of their molly kin. Guppies are adaptable fishes that do best at a pH that is circumneutral, and although they can tolerate slightly brackish environments, they are typically absent from them in their natural range, being thus limited to the 'interface' between fresh and brackish water conditions. Guppies actually can thrive in waters that are on the soft and acidic side, but only when the parameters are nicely close to neutral.

Still more distantly related are the platies and swordtails of the genus Xiphophorus (X. maculatus and X. helleri) that inhabit freshwaters upriver of estuaries. Although these fishes possess some physiological tolerance of low salinities, up to 10 ppt, they prefer different habitats than do tbe similarly sized mollies. Like them, however, they prefer a pH and hardness above those of our softwater aquariums. Both platies (X. maculatus complex) and swordtails (X. helleri complex) should be maintained at a pH value above 7.

The 'wild livebearers' as a whole, tend also to prefer circumneutral to hard and alkaline water, though some species are especially adaptable and tolerant. Among these are a few species popularly known as the mosquitofishes, although confusingly a number of species in different genera have been referred to by that name, sometimes even the guppy. Usually in aquaria, two species of Gambusia are indicated, either G. affinis or G. holbrooki. These species are easily confused, and the aquarium trade rarely recognizes the difference.

The adaptability of these species to variables of water parameters, has often made them very successful outside of their native range, once they have been introduced to new, suitable localities by the hand of man. Gambusia sp. may be found in waters with a pH as low as 5 and as high as 10, but usually it is at least 6. The temperature is usually 25 degrees, a good match for our tropical tanks, but they may be maintained between 15 and 30 degrees centigrade. Also, they are able to handle a salinity that is up to 16 ppt.

The overlapping appellation of millionsfish is also used for a number of livebearer species, including again the guppy. Another is the dusky millionsfish or caudo, Phalloceros caudimaculatus, further known as the speckled mosquitofish in fact, and also as the one-spot livebearer. Like Gambusia sp. this little toothcarp has established new populations far outside its natural range, assisted by its inherent and broad environmental tolerances, and human efforts to control biting mosquito populations. Based on the collection records that exist for P. caudimaculatus populations, they naturalise best where the temperature is 16-22 degrees centigrade, and the pH is 6.5 to 8.

From North America hails another small poecilids species, Heterandia formosa, known as the least killifish and midget livebearer, as well as the dwarf topminnow. The latter being a North American colloquialism referring to the killifishes. H. formosa inhabits the still waters of pools, and slow moving streams, in association with dense vegetation. The species is reported from localities with a pH of 4.5, but between 5 and 7.5 is probably better. This species feeds normally, when the temperature is between 11 and 32 degrees centigrade.

Some other livebearers may be obtained that will do fine at a pH lower than 7. Two species that may be found together in the same habitat, are the merry widow, Phallichthys amates, and the knife livebearer, Alfaro cultratus. Both species are naturally present where the pH may be as low as around 6.5. Both fishes inhabit slow-flowing streams, creeks, and other backwater to stagnant waters, around vegetation, and usually over a mud bottom. Knife livebearers have overlapping but different habitat requirements, than does the sympatric merry widow, as they are commonest in forest pools and small creeks, and also in river edge habitats.

[danireef]

Il Poecilia reticulata la leggenda degli acquari

Il Poecilia reticulata la leggenda degli acquari - Poecilia reticulata Il Poecilia reticulata appartiene alla famiglia dei Poeciliidae, è sicuramente la specie più famosa e più conosciuta al mondo dei Poeciliidae. Il Poecilia reticulata è conosciuto anche come: Guppy, Lebistes, Pesce milione. La famiglia dei Poeciliidae ha altri rap...

Un nuovo articolo su http://www.danireef.com/2019/07/23/il-poecilia-reticulata-la-leggenda-degli-acquari/

Il Poecilia reticulata la leggenda degli acquari

#AcquaDolce, #AcquarioDolce, #Guppy, #Lebistes, #PesceMilione, #PesciDiAcquaDolce, #PoeciliaReticulata

- by Lorenzo Spina

[antoniocandidoaquarismobras-blog]

Entenda um pouco mais sobre as variações de cauda de #guppys #farm #guppyfarm #guppies #lebistes #aquarismo #aquariofilia #aquariumsdaily #aquarismoglobal #Aquariumfish #fish #Fishinglife #fishtank (em Uberaba, Minas Gerais) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw9PFeOAcdq/?igshid=1cjdwenvi9xy

[jardimdomisa]

#lebiste #guppy #guppys #guppies #guppyfish #plati #fishstagram #instafish #aquarismo #aquariophilie #aquariums #aquariofilia #aquario #aquarios #aquarius #peixes #peixe #fish #fishtank #animais #f4follow #l4like #like4likes #aquarium #aquarious #jardimdomisa #🐟🐟🐟 #🐟 #🐠🐠🐠 #🐠 (em Americana, Sao Paulo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4V-BllBgsl/?igshid=10drlaxu0o81

[saniverso]

Logo, logo "Dona Redonda" vai encher o aqua de guppyzinhos! #guppy #lebiste #aquarismo #peixedeaquario (em São Lourenço da Mata) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNF4zrIJS9s/?igshid=lhypzg7u684x

[wildguppies]

During my mail exchange with Adrian HD, while looking for his consent to use some pictures at my website, he have done something extraordinary… made possible an astonishing contact between me and Armando Pou, one of the most prominent as well as admirable persons at Endler’s Livebearer narrative.

Right through this extraordinary occasion, Armando staggered me with the below message, as response to my request for publish an issue about this species.

With the consent of the author it self, I have the honour to share this information considered by me as extremely significant and imperative to be familiar with Poecilia wingei.

Thank you very much to Adrian and to Armando.

-----Original Message-----

From : Pou, Armando

Sent : Wednesday, June 1st 2006  20:10

Subject : Information on ELBs ( P. wingei ).

Miguel,

Laguna de Patos has changed a lot over the last seven or eight years.

This is the basic collection information :

Where “ Laguna de los Patos “ use to be ( in the late 1990’s ) there are now four basic bodies of water. Two on one side of a relatively new large road ( Autopista Sucre ) and two on the other. There is a shantytown on the edges of one of the lakes and untreated sewage flows into it. I found no fish life in this one ( at least none that I could readily see as I did not dip my nets in that mess). The second lake adjacent to it was polluted with fill and dump debris but had many “ Endler's livebearers “ ( Poecilia wingei ) in it.

This body of water appeared void of any large fish predators and was 100% Endler from the samples I took.

The third and fourth lakes were across the highway.

Both had been stocked with Chichlids, one was in a clay mining compound, was void of shoreline vegetation and I found no Endlers or guppies to exist in it. The fourth lake contained Endlers along it's reed filled shore. Many displayed an unusually large amount of black pigmentation ( I called the lake “ Black Endler Pond “ in the Tropical Fish Hobbyist article ).

The lakes periodically flood, in fact one floods out into “ Laguna Malagueña ” after heavy rains.

“ Laguna Malagueña “ lies adjacent to the ocean on perimeter road ( La carretera perimetro que sigue la costa del mar ).

At one time this body of water had both Endlers and Picta but since it now opens to the sea at high tide many of the Endlers have disappeared ( on one of my trips during the rainy season in the 90’s I had confused this laguna as being part of Laguna de los Patos ).

There are also slow moving streams and ditches leaving three of the lakes at “ Laguna de los Patos “.

The only place I actually saw guppies in Cumaná was away from these warmer, brackish, polluted waters. Like the Manzanares River, which was a good 15 degrees cooler than the Laguna, the water was much clearer and flowed well.

There have been many discussions about Endler “ types “ in the hobby. I have included locations where these Endlers were collected. ( Actual collection data I found from old notes ) :

1) Laguna De Los Patos North Lake – “ Double Sword Endler “, “ Black Chest Stripe “ ( Like original fish from the 70’s ), “ Snake Skin Endler “ ( Collected in March 2004, and 1998 )

2) Laguna De Los Patos North Lake ( only in March 2004 collection ) – “ White Peacock Endler “, “ Center Spot Endler “, others with orange, green and black stripes that are fairly plain.

3) Laguna De Los Patos South Lake, very polluted, no fish this time, but originally – “ Yellow Crescent Tail Endlers “, “ Black Chest Stripe “, “ Double Sword Endler “, “ Snake Skin “ ( Collected in 1998 ).

4) Black Endler Pond ( East side of Autopista Sucre, South of Laguna La Malageña ) – “ Tux Endler “, “ Black Upper Stripe Endler “, “ Black Spot Endler “, “ Black Pelvic Fin Endler “ ( Collected in March 2004 ).

5) Laguna La Malagueña – “ Red-Orange Tiger Picta “, “ Red Chested Endler “, “ Peacock Endler “, “ Flame Tail Endler “ ( Collected twice in 1997, three times  in 1998 and in March 2004 ).

6) Hyacinth Stream leaving Laguna de Los Patos North Lake – “ Black Pectoral Endler “ ( 2004 ).

Because of their long isolation from other guppies, Endler's livebearers are ideal subjects for genetic study.

Additionally, this is some of the information I provided to TFH in 2004.

Endler's Livebearer: A Recent Evolution.

A number of years ago after seeing photographs of what appeared to be very colorful wild guppies from Venezuela, I asked myself : What is an Endler's Livebearer ? So I decided to go to the source, Dr. John A. Endler, their namesake.

Professor Endler explained that they were possibly a distinct Poecilia species closely related to the guppy, P. reticulata. His had been the last collection of this Poecilid. These fish collected in the 1970’s made it into the tropical fish trade where they have been given the name - Endler's livebearer or Endlers.

He also informed me that Franklin F. Bond originally collected the same specie along with Poecilia reticulata in 1937 and that this collection of specimens was still at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, in a jar labelled Lebistes reticulatus. Dr Endler gave me some directions from memory to the lake where he had found these fish. The hunt was on !

In order to understand the origins and evolution of the Endler's Livebearer you have to become familiar with the early history of Cumaná.

Cumaná was the first fortified European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.

Cumaná Castle is a dense limestone fortress, which sits atop a ridge of this coastal city. From it, the Spanish Conquistadors were able to protect the two main riches that brought them there. The first being the pearl trade and the second being a vast salt mine.

After years of exploitation, a great storm, or hurricane, hit Cumaná; the torrential runoff burst past the levy the Spaniards had built at the mouth of the mine and flooded it out. Several attempts were made to pump the water out of the mine. When these failed the mines were abandoned. This was the birth of Laguna de Los Patos.

Over the centuries numerous earthquakes have occurred in this region.

Many times these earthquakes destroyed the town and often diverted the path of the Manzanares River. I speculate that these seismic events coupled with the flooding and displacement of this river may have also played a role in establishing the fish fauna of the various lakes of this region.

During my first trips to Cumaná I erroneously identified La Laguna Malagueña as Laguna de Los Patos.

La Laguna Malagueña is more of a true lagoon or estuary whereas Laguna de Los Patos, while sometimes brackish, ( especially during the height of the dry season, specific density at surface : 0.008 ) is a lake.

Both of these bodies of water and other smaller ponds and rock pits interconnect during the rainy season via a series of drainage ditches and run-off pipes as the timeless cycle of water makes its journey to the sea. Both Laguna de Los Patos and Laguna la Malagueña have been fragmented into several smaller components by road expansions and modern mining activities, which now extract clay and cement products.

As we approached Laguna de Los Patos I grew tense with anticipation of what would lie there. My last trip was in December of 1998 and much had changed since that time. It was the height of the dry season and the heat was oppressive. The pungent smell of burning rubbish hung heavily in the air. As I walked towards the lake my worst fears were realized.

The edges of Laguna de Los Patos had been filled in by building materials and rubbish. The sort of materials that would normally be found in a land fill, but here they were being used to form a foundation that eventually will be occupied by ranchos or shanty town dwellings common in the poorer outskirts of Venezuela.

The four lakes that comprise Laguna de Los Patos are heavily polluted. The two lakes which now lie on the eastern side of a highway called Autopista Antonio Jose Sucre are somewhat cleaner than those that lie on the western part of the highway.

The larger of the eastern two lakes is within the mining compound and has very scant vegetation remaining along its fringes. Additionally it has been stocked with Cichlids, which have effectively eradicated most of the Endlers.

The smaller lake is easily accessible from the highway and contains a very interesting population of melanistic Endlers.One of these Endlers appeared nearly black from the surface but eluded every attempt I made to net it. I did collect some specimens from this nameless pond, or rock pit, which I dubbed black endler pond to differentiate it from the other nearby biotopes. Although there were also cichlids present, the edges of this deep pond had plenty of vegetation, which afforded the Endlers hiding places.

Two larger lakes are found on the western side of the highway.

The southern most of these is so heavily polluted with raw sewage and debris from a shantytown that sits on its southern shore that I could find no signs of fish life in it.

The northern lake is now the last stronghold of the original endlers. Although also polluted and ranging from milky white to tan in colour, Endlers are very common here. Apparently this deep lake is so lacking in oxygen that no cichlids or other predatory fish survive here, allowing the Endlers to flourish near the surface.

Unlike Professor Endler's observations, I did not see Poecilia reticulata present at these lakes and believe that guppies do not co-exist with Endlers in Cumaná. If they did they would almost certainly hybridize. I feel that it is here where the first Endlers began to appear perhaps over four hundred years ago when that great storm flooded out the mine. The founding population was probably made up of a few hardy and tolerant individual specimens that rapidly multiplied to fill the lake. This would make the Endlers only recently divergent from guppies and still in the process of evolving into a unique species. The lack of predators here has allowed the spectacular colours Endlers are known for to evolve, female preference being the selecting force or pressure rather than predation. I would like to return to this lake with the proper equipment to take salinity and water samples at different depths because I suspect that the specific gravity will increase with depth.

From a water hyacinth choked drainage ditch leaving the northern lake of Laguna de Los Patos I pulled a small jewel - a single male specimen of the fabled black pectoraled Endlers.

After exhaustively searching the other bodies of water and with several hundred Endlers collected, this was the only one with black pectoral fins. This characteristic is a recessive trait that Professor John Endler described as being present in 20% of the fish he collected in 1975. Somehow this black pectoral form of Endler has over time disappeared from the existing wild populations.

There are other interesting morphs that occasionally pop up in wild populations of Endlers.

Note the photograph with the female with black markings on the dorsal and extended dorsal rays. This specimen, along with the other female with the black spot on her side and the male with the black anal fins ( next to the gonopodium ), came from black Endler pond.

I now made my way north towards the ocean and La Laguna Malagueña which sits on the landside of the perimeter road : Avenida Universidad.

Compared to Laguna de Los Patos this estuary is fairly unpolluted and thriving. It is a fresh to brackish water estuary largely surrounded by Black Mangroves, Buttonwood, and several other coastal hardwoods. These trees were alive with small rookeries of scarlet ibis, egrets, heron’s cormorants and brown pelicans.

On the ocean side of the laguna there is a finger channel or canal crossing under the beach side road. On my earlier trips to Cumaná in the late 90’s this channel was full of livebearers and other fresh water fish. In addition to Endlers I found P. picta, a molly species, Cichlids, what appeared to be a Rivulus killifish and numerous fiddler crabs. At that time this channel died a couple hundred yards from the ocean. On this trip the same channel laid open to the ocean during high tide. Now it only contains Cichlids and Picta.

The water of the laguna itself ranged from a pea green colour to a silty red-gray. It was quite stagnant in areas, where a mucousy white film covers the surface. The bottom of the lagoon was mucky and rich in leaf detritus. The familiar smell of rotting seaside vegetation was everywhere. The area surrounding the lagoon was quite arid; red soils dominating the cliff side of the laguna and calcareous sand on the ocean side. Laguna la Malagueña is still largely fresh water during low tide, but I believe the salt content in it increases during high tide and that the salinity also increases to a lesser extent during the dry season. The water depth varies from a few centimeters to three or four meters, the largest portion being shallow flats.

At one time there were as many as 15 to 20 basic types or forms of Endlers present at La Laguna Malagueña, with 7 or 8 forms being abundant. One of the attractive common types was the one established in the hobby from Dr. Endler's original collection in 1975. The orange and peacock strains now often seen in the hobby are descendants from my first collection in Laguna la Malagueña. I only managed to collect a couple of specimens of the orange form during this trip. They were all on the inland portion of the Laguna. The Endlers seem to have been negatively impacted by the channel's re-opening to the ocean.

The P. pictas that exist in Laguna la Malagueña are very robust and large. An occasional male form exists which is completely orange with transverse black bars. All the male Pictas develop a spectacular dorsal fin when fully mature. Their dorsal fins are brilliant yellow with black spots and more rays than other populations I have seen in Trinidad and Brazil. These fish are roughly 1-1/2 times larger than typical Endler males with a stockier appearance.

The differences between the Endler's Livebearer and P. reticulata are several.

P. reticulata is highly variable, I've rarely collected two specimens of reticulata from the same location that exhibit similar makings or coloration, yet there exists a limited number of basic types of Endlers within these lakes. The double swords on the caudal fins and the dominance of orange, black and green colorations are a couple of the characteristics commonly found in most wild Endlers. None of my collections from elsewhere in northern Venezuela or Trinidad come close to the vividness and intensity of colour of the fish from these lakes. As if painted with watercolours the orange and black sometimes bleeds into the gonopodium and other fins, which are always clear in other wild guppy populations.

Morphologically speaking Endlers also have a more angular appearance than reticulata, seeming almost bent at the dorsal and having a longer SL ( Standard Length ) to CFH ( Caudal Fin height ) ratio. This gives them a thinner more elongated appearance.

The habitat of the two fish also varies.

P. reticulata usually exists in flowing streams or waterways in which the water temperature averages in the mid to upper 70's F, while the water of these lakes was consistently in the low to mid 80's especially in the shallows. Additionally, I cannot stress enough the stagnant reduced biotopes in which Endlers seem to thrive.

Finally, in my opinion, perhaps the trait that differentiates the Endlers most from guppies is the presence of what I believe to be very active melanophores. The black coloration exhibited by endler males fades when stressed and intensifies when displaying territorially or during courtship behavior. This characteristic is more reminiscent of Pictas than reticulata and is one I believe sets Endlers apart from reticulata.

In 1998 I set up a series of 10 ten-gallon aquariums with 3-4 male Endlers to each female. The black coloration on the dominant male would intensify and the female showed a marked preference for this fish. At the time I did not quantify my results because it was very difficult to determine which male was mating more frequently with the female and differentiating which offspring belonged to which male would be practically impossible. When the dominant or alpha male was removed from the aquarium, within a day or two one of the other subordinate males' black coloration would intensify and it would become the new alpha male.

This occurred in each and every tank. In 2001 I placed in each aquarium four Endler females with one Endler male and one male guppy from Trinidad. Without exception the females chose the Endler male with the intense black coloration.

This year I introduced a variant to the same experiment. I have placed four female guppies from Trinidad in each tank along with one male Endler and one male Trinidad guppy. What I am finding is quite fascinating. It seems that the female guppies are choosing the male Endlers equally to the male guppies.

These results are too preliminary and I am not truly satisfied with my observations, as both lines have been established for several years now and in my mind they are both domestic stocks. I am hoping in the future to be able to run the same experiment with completely wild caught fish.



Flame Tail



Common Peacock



Peacock Half Tux



Center Peacock



Solid Red Stripe Peacock



White Pecock



Red Chest



Top Light Blue Sword



Orange Spoted



Center Monocle



Snake Chest



Double Red Stripe

Dr. Endler had mentioned to me that he was unable to hybridize P. reticulata and Endlers, and felt that this cross would produce sterile offspring.

I have not found this to be the case. I believe that initially, wild caught fish are difficult to hybridise with other species because they are imprinted with specific cues that signal to them what members of their own species should look like, behave like and maybe even smell like.

Once a domestic or aquarium population is established however, the offspring of these fish are more easily coaxed into hybridising. One method I have used involves raising single specimens of different species together. Of course the species have to at least belong to the same genus. Livebearing fish are particularly easy to hybridise.

In the past I have successfully hybridised P. picta and Endlers as well as P. reticulata and Endlers. The latter cross producing completely fertile offspring while the former cross varied in fertility rates. Although the P. picta X Endler was less fertile initially ( some pairs never producing offspring ), I was able to establish a continuous line through colony breeding.

I guess the question still remains : Are Endlers a local race of the common guppy or are they in fact a distinct species ?

In light of some of the information I have uncovered, the argument can be made that since man played a role in their origins, they should not be considered a species. However, species have always influenced other species. In fact, it is a cornerstone in the theory of evolution. Predator-prey relationships, symbiosis, parasitism, even domestication have all led to new species.

What about hybridisation ?

I believe Endler's livebearers, Poecilia reticulata, Poecilia picta and Poecilia parae are all closely related species. This is similar to the relationship between the platys and swordtails of Mexico and Central America. Many members of the Xiphophorus family will also hybridise and produce fertile offspring but are considered distinct species.

Whether Endlers are ever categorized as a separate species, subspecies, or are found just to be a local variant of P. reticulata, they certainly do inhabit unique biotopes and the same forces which brought about their evolution will undoubtedly one day bring their extinction.

Venezuela is an incredible country with beautiful people and eco-variety which ranges from the majestic Andes to the evergreen pantanals and from the Orinoco's Amazon to the coastal scrubland which is this region of Sucre.

However, before you gather your buckets and collecting nets know that this is also a country on the verge of civil war and its government is well on its way to a totalitarian dictatorship ala Cuba.

Make sure you acquire the necessary ornamental fish permits from INAPESCA and that you have arranged to export your fish. As my plane left Cumaná I noticed several other smaller ponds and lakes around this region which I did not get a chance to explore. These may also yield interesting Poecilids.

Author's foot note : Recently “ Endler's Livebearer “ has been re-classified as a new species by Dr. Fred Poeser's new taxon paper ( Poecilia wingei ).

This publication is an excellent source of information !!!

My only disagreement is a casual statement Dr. Poeser made that the fish from Laguna de los Patos were probably due to human introductions or “ aquarium releases “. This impoverished area of Venezuela has few “ Aquarium hobbiest “, and certainly not in the 1930's when the fish were first discovered by Franklin F. Bond.

This region of South America is constantly under dynamic upheavals, both storm related and geologic. I believe that it is more plausible that these fish found their way into the Laguna de los Patos through one of these events.

Best regards,

[uberaba-cidadesbr]

Peixe lebiste é usado para controle natural das larvas do Aedes aegypti em Uberaba | Triângulo Mineiro

Na busca por alternativas eficazes para o combate de focos do Aedes aegypti, o peixe lebiste, conhecido como “barrigudinho” ou

The post Peixe lebiste é usado para controle natural das larvas do Aedes aegypti em Uberaba | Triângulo Mineiro appeared first on Cidade de Uberaba.

from Cidade de Uberaba https://uberaba.cidadesbr.net.br/mg/peixe-lebiste-e-usado-para-controle-natural-das-larvas-do-aedes-aegypti-em-uberaba-triangulo-mineiro/ via https://uberaba.cidadesbr.net.br/mg

[procurarcurso]

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[aquariuminfobureau]

As a child I grew to be very fond of the Interpet series of pet care manuals. Like Usborne and Dorling Kindersley imprints, they not only stimulated me with their subject matter, such as tropical fishes and aviary birds, but with their wonderful graphic design. It looks good to have a set of books on one's shelf, that just 'go together', especially when the content is useful, and the pages are beautiful.

As an example of the series, I will examine Livebearing Fishes by Peter W. Scott. To look at the cover, this is the 1999 print run, but the book was first published earlier. The volume is a great introduction to the format of this series, and how the books could blend together basic, entry level how-to, with more esoteric information.

The livebearers as a group of fishes, are best known through four kinds of fishes, that have been selectively bred, into a diversity of color and finnage morphs - the (common or southern) platy and the (green) swordtail of the genus Xiphophorus, the guppy or Lebistes reticulata, and the mollies of the genus Mollienisia. All of these fishes share an ancient, hypothetical common ancestor, a poecilid toothcarp that had already transitioned first to internal fertilization, and then to viviparity.

Although the disparity among the domesticated strains of these species, does not match that among the goldfishes, or certain other domesticated species such as the dog, their diversity is nonetheless remarkable, as is well illustrated by a page featuring guppies. Were these morphs naturally occurring, rather than developed by the hand of man, they would surely not all be regarded as conspecifics.

Human agency has removed the pressure from dangerous natural predators, that eat visible little fish in their ancestral habitats, and intentionally controlled which fishes passed on their genes through generations. Charles Darwin well understood this sort of thing, and he called it, 'artificial selection'.

Many people would find it strange to regard any organically bred livestock as genetically engineered, but all of artificial selection is the technics of manipulating the future of organisms, by engineering their future heredity. The wild progenitor fishes slready possessed high enough genetic diversity, that the potentialities of their diverse descendants was already latent, but not expressed in the wild environment, because of natural selection.

The Interpet guides are not without informational content. In this color diagram, the pregnancies of two anablepids and a goodeid, are illustrated. Although both these clades of fish are relatively close relatives, they transitioned to viviparity independently. In fact their most recent common ancestors, did not even practice fertilization internally.

Livebearing or viviparity has actually evolved a few times among true fishes, and 'fish-like vertebrates' which would include the old pre-cladistic definition, which survived as the focus of ichthyology. A disproportionate number of the transitions, surprisingly enough, occur within one clade of fishes named the cyprinodonteans, and specifically their subclade, the cyprinodontoids, to which both goodeids and anablepids brlong.

The most recent common ancestors of these clades was not viviparous, nor did they even possess the prerequisite state of internal fertilization, without which the transition to viviparity would have been impossible. No one has ever really explained why only cypryinodontoids are so prone to evolve into livebearing fishes, when other fish are not.

Even among the poecilids, the clade including the most familiar livebearers in aquariums, viviparity evolved twice from a common ancestor that already possessed internal fertilization, although its babies developed externally, ie. oviparity. The sister clade to poecilids, are the anablepids, representing a third evolution of viviparity in this subclade alone.

Two other clades of cyprinodontoid fishes are known to have evolved vivipareity. One of them is the goodeines, the split-fin toothcarp. Split-fins are sisters to the oviparous genera Profundulus, Crenichthys, and Empetrichthys, all of them killifishes retaining the external fertilization of their more distant relatives.

A further evolution of viviparity among the cyprinodontoids, has occurred in a South American genus, Fluviphylax. Finally among the broader cyprinodontean clade, viviparity has also evolved once among the beloniforms, in the zenarchopterid halfbeaks.

As an aside, what exactly is a toothcarp? Goodeids and poecilids are both known as 'livebearing toothcarp', as are several oviparous cyprinodontoids. In fact fishes known as toothcarps, do not form a natural descent group within the cyprinodontoids, in the way that the pupfishes can be identified with the cyprinodontid clade. Sometimes a species can be identified as either, interchangeably, and a clade such as the goodeids may count both 'killifishes' and 'toothcarp' among its members.

In all I find it fair to say that 'toothcarp' and a related word, 'topminnow', are partial synonyms of 'killifish', and both refer to the cyprinodontoid clade of killifishes. The archetypal killifishes of the aplocheilid or aplocheiloid sister group, are never referred to as either, nor are the ricefishes, which are also traditionally killifishes, and are now regarded as basal beloniforms. So that all three of the major cyprinodontean subclades, include 'killifishes' among their members.

None of the species that are known as killifishes are viviparous, though some have internal fertilization, which they have evolved more than once, as a result of intensified competition between male fishes. Yet not all of the killifishes that are called toothcarps, are viviparous fishes.

The Interpet guides feature memorable diagrams, in this case showing how a breeding trap works. The evolution of pregnancy and penetrative sex in livebearing fishes, might remind us of ourselves, and other placental mammals.

But unlike mammals, the familiar livebearers are not among those species of fish, that guard or provide for their offspring after partuition. Although carrying their offspring internally for a prolonged period, is a significant parental investment by the mother.

Because newly born livebearers fit into the mouths of their parents, there is a real risk of cannibalism in these fish species. Breeding traps are designed and manufactured to reduce the danger, by allowing the vulnerable newborns to find safety where their hungry parents cannot teach them.

Domesticated livebearers are among the easiest of all tropical fishes to keep, but their prolific reproduction can be problematic when the males and females are cohabited. Children are either fascinated or disturbed, when they see cute baby fishes eaten in the fish tank.

Livebearers are not only guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails. The genus Anableps is an estuarine fish that has evolved to hunt at the surface of the water. Technically it has only one pair of eyes, exactly as we do, excepting that Anableps can simultaneously watch both above and below the water surface. It would have been very easy for Interpet simply to feature captive bred livebearer morphs, but these guides can be so much more

The halfbeaks are a taxonomically confusing assemblage of fishes, sharing an I testing craniofacial morphology. It is still not certain exactly how they are related to their relatives, the predatory clade of gars or needlefishes with their saury sisters, and the gliding exocets.

Not all halfbeaks are viviparous, but all of the viviparous halfbeaks belong to a natural or monophyletic clade. Again, it would have been easy to overlook the halfbeaks, in a book about viviparous aquarium fishes, simply because they are such oddballs.

The major clade of poecilid livebearers is not merely covered as domesticated breeds, either. Not considered often by most aquarists, are a diversity of wild poecilid species and genera. Some of these, such as Phallichthys, are also featured in the Interpet guide, right after a sampling of the split-fin livebearers.

Among other content, the Interpet guide touches upon wild members of the genera Poecilia (using a consensus, overly broad definition) and Xiphophorus. There is gene flow and interfertility between different species assigned to Xiphophorus, both in the wild and in the aquarium. Some described species are recognized by some authors, yet dismissed as hybrids by others. In all it's a book with surprising content, given it's low price, and Introductory nature.

[nightanday]

(Des)Conhecida e os nossos detalhes num aquário de ensaios.

Você dizia que me amava, que adorava meu cheiro, que amava me beijar, me esperava na ponta da escada... Hoje acho que não passei de um Lebiste, aprisionado num nanico aquário no seu quarto. Preciso conversar contigo, que é pra me libertar desse aquário, entende? Precisamos.

(source)