Guppy - Poecilia reticulata breeding
Poecilia reticulata is the famous guppy, the most popular aquarium fish. In the natural environment, there are lots of guppy varieties as both body shape and coloration. In aquariums, due
to repeated selections we gave even more than in nature. For guppy fish, there are international standards because a lot of contests are organized having this fish as a subject. The male has a more prolonged body, while the female`s is more compact, but the peduncle is more oblate on the flanks. It is very hard to describe a guppy male from the coloration point of view. Typically it has large spots, dark colored, on both body and fins which edges are shining. The female is less colored, she`s yellow-green, right before the anal area we can see the genital spot. The edges of the scalds are dark colored, giving the impression that they are coated by a netting; that`s the origin of the `reticulata` name.
They are spread in a large area, in South America, northern than Amazon, as well as in Trinidad and Barbados islands. The optimal temperature is about 22-24° C. Guppies eat almost anything, both living and dry food. They are viviparous fish, the females give birth to 20-100 fry at every 4 weeks.