(Fred N. Poeser's: letter) Endler's Livebearer ... Endless chatter or finally an answer? (Translated version by Kevin van Dijk)





(.by Kevin van Dijk.)

(Fred N. Poeser's letter)

Endler's Livebearers . . . . . . .


Endless chatter or finally an answer?


Twenty-five years Poecilia, a historic event. While in honor of this event, it was a symposium lecture on the latest developments in the hobby. Through my association with the University of Amsterdam, I am actively doing it itself. This time I could tell something about the Endler guppy, or rather, Endler's Livebearers.
The story going around on the internet is as follows. In 1975, Dr. John Endler caught a fish near the city Cumaná in Venezuela. He gave his fish to Dr. Don Rosen because he thought it was a new species. It was a fish that occurred between other guppies (or rather, in the same lake but in a warmer place) but could not cross with "common" guppies. In 1976 there where more fish caught the by Dr. Endler indicated spot. Later it appeared more and more fish in the hobby. Interesting detail is that Dr. Rosen, meanwhile, died of a brain tumor, the fish where now in the hands of a German researcher who immediately retired, and also by Dr. Kallman (a major researcher in the genetics of Xiphophorus) gave it to NY Aquarium. It seemed like there was a curse on the fish.

In the nineties, more and more pictures spread around of Poecilia spec. or Poecilia "Endleri" and I also started my interest in this fish. The big question was: is it a variation of the common guppy or is it a separate species? The guppy Itself is called the Poecilia reticulata, is from Venezuela and called for so since 1859. Another type of Trinidad in 1866 was described as Girardinus guppii where the fish his username owes. The species Lebistes poecilioides where the guppy since 1913 was seen related to its genus name, well the name crashed inside the trashcan (when it comes to guppies). Since 1963, moreover, officially called the guppy Poecilia reticulata normal again. That was the situation at the moment I became involved.
In the scientific world I landed here and studied the fish in Cumaná and I maintained contact with several people who were involved in that investigation. I didn't observe and sit still, so I asked a lot of material in the UMMZ, the museum manages a large collection of preserved material. Dr. Endler had previously said he had seen the fish there in one of the pots and I wanted to see it.
In 2000 it became clear that none of the studies in Cumaná would constitute a new species and with renewed energy, I started working. Jar after jar was opened and the fish measured again, and rays by rays, scale by scale, counted. There were also photographs of some specimens of which I thought drawing was a bit suspicious. Unfortunately, the fish that came out Cumaná are "Ordinary" guppies, they were prety useless. However, there were fish with the famous "Endler comma", a feature that many aquarium fish had: a black blotch on the dorsal fin from the body back into the belly. But those fish did not came from Cumaná ... Also Dr.. Endler mailed me that the last fish is not "his" fish. Unfortunately. Throughout 2000 and 2001 had not been very successful, but more knowledge about the variation in color pattern and size of the guppy.


How often does it happen that there comes a moment that you are feel down, you just sit in a dip and a fresh one, with a fresh look at the case, offers a solution? Michael Kempkes was visiting and he suggested to go to Venezuela to go over there and take a look, and search for the truth ourself. That was a good idea and in a short time we had two return tickets to Venezuela in our pocket. What we saw Campoma in 2002 in the region and the guppy which that we have described from there may be known: Poecilia wingei the "Campoma guppy".
In 2004 a publication by Drs. Alexander and Breden which they enumerated the differences they found were from many different guppypopulations, including those from Cumaná. Just three populations, from the city and from locations other than where Dr.. Endler fish had been caught the fishes were larger and had a different color pattern. And like me, they found that no reason for the fish to been seen as a separate species to be classified.

Ironically, many people found it in 2005, a reason to call all Endler guppies Poecilia wingei after Michael and I (together with Dr. Isbrucker of the University of Amsterdam) had suggested that the fish that Dr. Endler had ever found an could be and released population Campoma guppies.
So far the history, then what have I done?

Later that year I went to America and I restudied guppypopulations from the collection of New York, Chicago and Michigan. I discovered that there are areas where the differences between reticulata and guppii not been signed and that the two "types" classification also crosses in nature. That's why I've decided to study the guppies as two different subspecies: Poecilia reticulata reticulata and Poecilia reticulata guppii. One of the intersections of different populations is at Cumaná, so I think the Endler guppies are the result of ardent declarations of love from the tolerant multicultural maleguppies of the three taxa that occur there.
When I was in Michigan, I also searched for the fishes from Dr. Endler they seen seems to have "his" fish in a separate pot, which could be described as new species. And yes, hooray, there was a new Micropoecilia present, described in 1940 but never published. There was the fish that Dr. Endler in Cumaná had seen and it could not cross with guppies. It is quite possible that this new kind needs warmer water, because Micropoecilia are simply different fish than guppies. What is now the uncomfortable situation, Endler's guppies fish are not the same fish as Endler's Livebearers

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(Important Notice from writer "Kevin van Dijk")

4 Taxa of Guppy's, genus Poecilia, subgenus Acanthophacelus:
Poecilia reticulata reticulata Peters, 1859
Poecilia reticulata guppii Günter, 1894
Poecilia wingei Poeser, Kempkes & Isbrücker, 2005
Poecilia obscura Schories, Meyer & Schartl, 2008
A swarm of hybrid's between these fishes caused a lot of diversity of "Endler's guppy's".


6 Taxa of Micro's, genus Poecilia, subgenus Micropoecilia:
Poecilia parae Eigenmann, 1894
Poecilia branneri Eigenmann, 1894
•Poecilia bifurca Eigenmann, 1907
Poecilia picta Regan, 1913
Poecilia minima Costa & Sarraf, 1997
Poecilia Endleri / Poecilia spec. . This one is "Endler's Livebearer" (Or in fact "Endler's micro")

So to split it up:
•Endler's Livebearer (ELB), Endler's "micro" = Poecilia (Micropoecilia) Endleri
•Campoma/Cumaná guppy or Endler's "guppy" = Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) wingei - Poeser, Kemkes & Isbrucker, 2005

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