Framingham Nature Blog - My New Endler's Livebearers

I was rushed to stock my aquarium, because it is getting colder and colder, and I dont plan on ice fishing. I had to settle on some Non-Native fish.

I decided to try Endler's Live bearers because they are apparently very easy to breed. Endler's Livebearers, Guppies, Platies, Mollies, Mosquitofish, and Swordtails are all examples of Live-Bearing fish. As the name suggests, these fish give live birth, like a Mammal. This evolved as a result of egg predators consistently eating small fish's eggs.

Endlers are native to Venezuela. Paria Peninsula, to be more specific. They were introduced to the aquarium trade because of the male's impressive colors and patterns. The females of every breed of Endler are dull and grey, because their color has only been shaped by the threat of predators, not courtship.

These are my three males:

Spotted Yellow Tiger

Yellow Tiger

El Silverado

As of the fourth, all 7 of my Endlers seem active and healthy. Most of them are already eating. The males usually hang out in a "bachelor shoal" and the females seem a bit more scattered, usually near the plants for safety. Occasionally a male will pursue one of the females, displaying, following her, and puffing himself out. I am suspicious that one of the larger female is pregnant, because the males barely give her any attention, and her body looks enlarged.

If this is the case, she became so before i got her, because i noticed this the day I bought them.

On the 11th, two of my females look pregnant. their bodies are bloated, and their gravid spots are pitch black. they should give birth soon. My other two look too young for pregnancy or reproduction. The pet store gave me an extra female. Or at least it looked like a female. It was a very young fish, and had grey coloration, so i just assumed it was female. I was wrong.

As it matured more over the next few weeks, It developed an orange "ear". This is a trait that the El Silverado male also carries, So i suspect the fish is an immature El Silverado Male. what do you think?

It also might be a High Orange, French Blue Star, or El Silverado x Yellow Tiger Male. It lacks the blue, spotted tail of the El Silverado, but it may be the case that that is a trait that only appears later in life.

Whatever it is, I am going to hopefully raise it to adulthood, so that i can see it's mature coloration.