I'm thinking of setting aside some tank space for some Endler's livebearers, but have read that many aquarium populations are a mixture with common guppies.
Is this true? And if so, are there any markers that easily identify a mixed or pure population (I'd prefer to not waste space on an endler-like guppy hybrid)

Thanks.

Joseph.

Maybe someone from the board can dig out Dr. Felix Breden’s speech from the 2007 ALA convention. His talk, "Endler's Livebearer or Cumana Guppy?...and other enigmatic Poecilia.” was extremely informative about this type of guppy. I think he may of even had a handout but that was 3 years ago and I don't have that good of a memory.

There is a specific color pattern to the “Endler’s Livebearer but unfortunately that is it. However, I turned them in as Poecilia wingei for my local clubs BAP program just because I could.

I have pure endlers livebearers. I know a few others who do. The only way to know for sure is to talk with the breeder. I will not even keep guppies.
gerrard94114@yahoo.com

I too am looking for infor mation on the verasity of the claim that the Endlers I have Are pure I have 2 sets that are strikingly different.

see further discussion at: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236416

Best wishes,
Wes

Wild type endlers contain a large variety of different color patterns so when people start breeding them in a small group, they exhibit a founder's effect. The foundation of the new population does not have the broad diversity in appearance that the wilds had, they only have the genes of those few fish.
I had a colony of wilds, class N, that were established using a fairly diverse looking group of adults although they were small in number. That breeding colony still shows lots of variation today. I selected 2 males of a color that I particularly liked and placed them with some virgin females and now I have a tank full of fish that all look very much alike. If the only endlers I had ever seen were the ones in that second tank, I would have a hard time believing that the first colony were even the same fish.
Both colonies are class N fish but the second colony has been selectively bred to look a particular way. That second colony would be a poor source for establishing any kind of breeding colony that was intended to reflect wild type endlers because its genetics are so darned narrow.