Guppy
For other uses of this word, see Guppy (disambiguation)
Status: Secure
freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. It is a small member of the Poecilidae family (females 3 centimetres long, males 2 centimetres long) and is therefore live-bearing. It prefers a hard water aquarium and can withstand a surprising degree of salinity. Its most famous characteristic is its propensity for breeding.
The female guppy is a drab brown in colour. The much smaller male naturally has a colourful caudal fin (tailfin), which has been considerably enhanced in shape and colour by selective breeding.
Dr. R. Guppy discovered this tiny fish in Trinidad in 1866, but it has escaped from captivity and lives in a feral condition in much of the warmer regions of the world. It has been introduced to some areas to keep down the mosquito population and fight malaria.
This fish has been introduced to the Netherlands were it lives in the cooling water of the Corus Steelmill near IJmuiden. The result has been extraodinary; the fish thrive and have increased in size. Fishes of 12 cm are the norm.
Over time, many species are assigned a different taxonomic name. The guppy is no exception:
- Lebistes reticulatus
- Acanthocephalus guppii
- A. reticulatus
- Girardinus guppii
- G. petersi
- G. poeciloides
- G. reticulatus
- Haridichthys reticulatus
- Heterandria guppyi
- Lebistes poecilioides
- Poecilia poeciloides
- Poecilioides reticulatus.
- For now: Poecilia reticulata
References
- "Poecilia reticulata." FishBase. ed. Froese, R. and D. Pauly (04/2004), URL:
- "Poecilia reticulata." ITIS Standard Report. (Integrated Taxonomic Information System: National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 2004-06-08). URL:
