Endler's Livebearer

About

The Campoma Guppy (Poecilia wingei) is a compact livebearer from the warm coastal lagoons of northeastern Venezuela, where it was first collected back in 1937 and later rediscovered by researcher John Endler in the 1970s. A history that explains its popular trade name, Endler's Livebearer. Males are tiny, colorful fish that display almost constantly, fanning their fins and shimmering in front of females in a courtship routine that never really stops. Females are larger and more subdued in color, as is typical for the group. One of the most important things to understand before keeping this species is that it absolutely cannot be housed with common guppies (Poecilia reticulata). The two will hybridize freely, and those hybrids undermine the genetic integrity of both. Something the dedicated breeding community takes seriously. While males get along fine with each other, females can be territorial, so keeping a group rather than just a pair helps distribute any aggression. Breeding is essentially inevitable if you keep both sexes, with females capable of producing new broods roughly every three to four weeks. Fry are relatively large and robust from birth. This is a forgiving species for newer keepers, but works best in a species-focused or carefully chosen nano setup rather than a general community tank.