The Endler is a hardy fish, that is as small as the wild guppy, but has much more colour.
The name Endler comes from the professor in biology, John Endler, that cought a bunch of wild Endlers in 1975.
Some people seem to like crossing Endler's and show guppies in order to produce more colourful fish. I keep mine apart, I have a mixed strain of Endler's (bought as Endler's at two different pet shops, and looking just as Endler's should look) and I carefully keep them away from my guppies.
I know there is some dispute over what Endler's really are, some say it just a guppy and some say it is not, and that is why some name them Endler's Guppy and some name them Endler's Livebearer. I don't care which, I just think they are interesting to have and I happen to like them. I never read about them in any of the aquarium books I've read through the years, though. When I bought mine I was told that they are probably not 100 % pure Endler's, which would mean that somewhere along the line a few guppies was introduced into the line of breeding. I sure would like to have some 100 % pure Endler's!
Now in the beginning of 2006 this species has been given it's own scientific name, and the scientists seem to agree that the Endler is NOT a guppy, but a close relative, called Poecilia wingei. There is some dispute over this still, though :-)
To the left is a photo of an Endler male called Lille-Sot. He is sort of blue and black, no other colours. His basic body colour is blue, not the same as the other Endlers, which seems to be a bit more yellow in colour. In the photo to the right you can see a Blue Endler fry, born in the summer of 2006, together with a normal coloured Endler female.
I now have Golden Endler's too :-)
Copyright: Eva Johansson.
Last update: 22th of February 2007.