Endlers.nl

New! Difference in the gonopodium "Endlers vs (Wildtype) Guppy"

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Endlers.nl

Endler's Livebearer ( ELB )

also refered to as Endler, Endlers guppy, Cumana guppy (Alexander and Breden 2004) or Campoma guppy c.q. Poecilia (Acanthophacelus) wingei Poeser, Kempkes & Isbruecker, 2005

Prof. John A. Endler told in a letter that he originally collected these fishes in 1975 in Laguna de Patos, Cumana, in northeastern Venezuela. Prof. Endler said that he found them in warm (27° C or 81° F), hard water which was very green with unicellular algae. They coexisted with regular guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Prof. Endler gave a stock of Poecilia sp. "Endler's" to Dr. Donn Eric Rosen, the then Curator of Ichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, who was going to name it (but died a few years later). Dr. Rosen gave some of the stock to a mutual friend of Dr. Endler, Dr. Klaus Kallman, then of the New York Aquarium, and a famous fish geneticist. Dr. Kallman introduced it to the German aquarium community. Dr. Kallman didn't tell Dr. Endler at the time, but he gave it the name "Endler's Livebearer" or "Endler's Guppy". From the German aquarists it spread throughout Europe and Dr. Endler didn't hear about it until about 1980 when an English colleague asked him about the "Endler's Livebearer". From Europe they were distributed to America, Japan and elsewhere.

In his letter in 1995 Endler clearly stated that that the "Endler's Livebearer" is it's own species, not a guppy...

Endler saw possible specimens of his fishes in the UMMZ ( University of Michigan Museum of Zoology ) in the collection of the fish-collector Franklyn F. Bond, who collected them in the 1930's. ; Endler later said that the fishes with the "comma" in this collection were NOT the fishes he originally refered to. The specimens from UMMZ are recently thouroughly re-examined; zero of the stocked "guppys" appear to be "Endlers guppy"....

Already in 1976 Ingo Schlup from the University of Hamburg collected fishes ( directed to the location by Prof.Endler ); also Dr. Wolfgang Staeck, Dr. Joachim Knaack, Rob Toonen, ( later Armando Pou and lots of others! ) collected fishes from the Laguna de Patos and other locations in the Cumana-region.

Endlers collected by Armando Pou in 1997

At this moment there are several locations known outside Laguna de Patos, Laguna la Malaguena and the locations of Alexander en Breden; among them is Puerto la Cruz ( 100 km west of Cumana, see this map ) ; the Tjech biologist Dr.Roman Slaboch found specimens here in 2001 .
Dr.Roman Slaboch descibed the Laguna on a trip in 2003: " Lagoon is 1 km from Puerto LaCruz, direction to Playa Colorada (GPS N 10.23462; W 64.62082). Aqua was highly contaminated by communal trash. In the lagoon there were only a few Endleґs. I caught only 15 specimens"

Endlers from Puerta la Cruz collected by Dr.Roman Slaboch:

Puerta la Cruz Endler

In februari 2008 some members of the: Acuaristasdevenezuela.com.ve made a trip to Laguna de Patos to see what was still there; besides cichlides, etc. they collected fotos en specimens from several other fishes..; note that this is from only one location !
They wonder if this still are the fishes that John Endler intially ment or that some level of hybridisation has occured...