Endler's Guppy Hybrid Breeding Guide

How to breed the Endler-guppy hybrid (Poecilia reticulata x wingei), a fertile livebearer; females drop live fry after a roughly 20-60 day gestation.

Overview

The Endler's guppy hybrid is a cross between the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and Endler's livebearer (P. wingei), two closely related Poeciliidae from the Venezuelan region. Both parents are New World livebearers, and crosses between P. wingei and P. reticulata produce fertile offspring. In the pet trade, undocumented fish sold as Endlers are widely assumed to carry some degree of guppy hybridisation. Breeding difficulty is at the beginner level.

Sexing

Males are smaller and far more colourful, with ornamental caudal and dorsal fins, and possess a gonopodium, a modified tubular anal fin behind the ventral fins through which sperm is transferred. Females are larger and plainer; in pure Endlers an adult female can be roughly twice the size of a male.

Conditioning

Maintain the fish within the species range of 22-28 °C with moderately hard water at pH 6.5-8.0 and feed an omnivore diet. Well-conditioned females in a planted tank readily produce broods.

Breeding Setup

A densely planted tank with fine-leaved or floating plants gives newborn fry the cover they need. Females can store sperm in the ovaries and gonoducts and continue to fertilise ova for up to about eight months, so a single mating can yield several successive broods.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

As livebearers, the fish do not lay eggs; the male fertilises the female internally via the gonopodium and the female gives birth to fully formed, free-swimming fry. Reported gestation in the guppy ranges from about 20 to 60 days at 25-27.8 °C, while Endler females give birth roughly every 23 days.

Egg & Fry Care

Brood size is variable: guppy drops typically number 30-60 fry but can range from a few up to around 200, while Endler drops range from one to about 30. The young are immediately free-swimming and accept finely crushed foods and small live foods such as Artemia nauplii. Males begin showing colour within a few weeks but need several months for full coloration.

Common Challenges

Well-fed adults do not often eat their own young, but safe zones such as dense planting are needed for the fry. Because the hybrids are fertile and females store sperm, uncontrolled crossing readily dilutes line-bred Endler and guppy stocks, which is why dedicated breeders keep the parent species separate.