Guppies
| Guppies | ||||||||||||
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Guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ), above a male, below two females of a wild form of undetermined origin. |
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| Acanthophacelus | ||||||||||||
| Eigenmann , 1907 |
The guppies ( Acanthophacelus ) are a subgenus of the genus Poecilia consisting of four species from the group of viviparous toothcarps (Poeciliinae). Of the four species of guppy, the common guppy is one of the most frequently kept aquarium fish, and Endler's guppy has also become a popular freshwater ornamental fish.
distribution
All four species of guppies live in northern South America. The original range of the common guppy can no longer be precisely determined, as it has been widely expanded by humans. It was probably in the northern and central parts of Venezuela , northern Guyana and Suriname, and Trinidad . Endler's guppy is found in two isolated areas in the Venezuelan state of Sucre , the oropuche guppy in an isolated river system in northeast Trinidad and the Suriname guppy in Suriname.
features
All four species of guppies show a clear sexual dimorphism . The females are much larger than male guppies and reach lengths of 2.6 to 5.5 cm. They are simply grayish-beige in color and strongly built. Sexually mature females have a clearly recognizable gestation mark. The fins are not taken off.
Male guppies without domestication effects grow to be 1.4 to 2.8 cm long. Even in the wild forms, some of the fin rays of the dorsal and caudal fin can be elongated. They are also colorfully patterned with all kinds of spots and ribbons.
In the guppy and Endler's guppy, the dorsal fin is supported by 6 to 7 fin rays, the anal fin by 9 and the caudal fin by 12 to 14 rays. In the species description of the oropuche guppy only 6 rays are mentioned for the dorsal fin. In the males of the four guppy species, the anal fin is transformed into a mating organ, the gonopodium . The first two anal fin rays are short, the third, fourth and fifth are elongated and form a channel for sperm transfer, the fin rays 6, 7, 8 and 9 are shortened.
Systematics
Acanthophacelus is a sub-genus of Poecilia , to which, in addition to the guppies, the so-called Mollys, sub-genus Mollienesia , and other species belong in aquarium circles . Acanthophacelus is probably more closely related to the genus Micropoecilia , which occurs in South American soft water biotopes and is very similar in appearance , than to the other subgenera of Poecilia .
species
- Surinamese guppy ( Poecilia kempkesi Poeser, 2013 )
- Oropuche guppy ( Poecilia obscura Schories, Meyer & Schartl 2009 )
- Guppy ( Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859 )
- Endler's Guppy ( Poecilia wingei Poeser, Kempkes & Isbrücker, 2005 )
In the common guppy, which has great intraspecies variability, different populations can be distinguished (Northern Venezuelan guppy, Orinoco guppy, Guyana guppy, West Trinidad guppy, East Trinidad guppy).
literature
- Michael Kempkes: The guppies. Neue Brehm-Bücherei Vol. 662, Westarp Sciences, Hohenwarsleben, 2010, ISBN 978-3-89432-875-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ Paulo Henrique Franco Lucinda, Roberto E. Reis: Systematics of the subfamily Poeciliinae Bonaparte (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae), with an emphasis on the tribe Cnesterodontini Hubbs. Neotrope. ichthyol. vol. 3 no.1 Porto Alegre Jan./Mar. 2005 doi : 10.1590 / S1679-62252005000100001