Feeder Guppies- M/F question

[kkirkt]

MFK,

I have a tank where I raise feeder guppies. One guppy has confused me-.
S/he is slightly larger than the other females and has some subtle coloring. S/he is also more energetic (a "scared" fish that darts around a lot, more likely to hide in the back at times, the only one in the tank like this). At first I just thought I had a shy, colorful female (with no gravid spot- but I have others with no gravid spot). But over the last few weeks I've noticed the anal fin looks a lot more male like (gonopodium).



I thought this was one that was born/raised in the tank, but possibly I bought it young. I can't remember the last time I bought feeder guppies, but it was months ago. I initially thought it was a female (based on size and overall 'look') but based on the anal fin, I assume it is a male. I know some fish can change sex, but I imagine that's not what happened (and I've always had a few males in the tank- colorful feeders, but small). S/he looks nothing like the other males (who are much smaller, much more colorful, and display).

Since it was from a feeder tank, maybe it is a different species that somehow got thrown into the feeder tank. Of course, I think the real answer is that the 'bloodlines' of feeders are all mixed up, and it is probably just a freaky looking guppy male.

Your thoughts?

Kevin



Overall Tank pic- You cannot an idea of the size of the fish compared to the females and the male in the background.
Fish of interest is on the right side, centered in the water column. A male is above, but further back.
spied

 

[tlindsey]

MFK,

I have a tank where I raise feeder guppies. One guppy has confused me-View attachment 1386950.
S/he is slightly larger than the other females and has some subtle coloring. S/he is also more energetic (a "scared" fish that darts around a lot, more likely to hide in the back at times, the only one in the tank like this). At first I just thought I had a shy, colorful female (with no gravid spot- but I have others with no gravid spot). But over the last few weeks I've noticed the anal fin looks a lot more male like (gonopodium).

View attachment 1386951

I thought this was one that was born/raised in the tank, but possibly I bought it young. I can't remember the last time I bought feeder guppies, but it was months ago. I initially thought it was a female (based on size and overall 'look') but based on the anal fin, I assume it is a male. I know some fish can change sex, but I imagine that's not what happened (and I've always had a few males in the tank- colorful feeders, but small). S/he looks nothing like the other males (who are much smaller, much more colorful, and display).

Since it was from a feeder tank, maybe it is a different species that somehow got thrown into the feeder tank. Of course, I think the real answer is that the 'bloodlines' of feeders are all mixed up, and it is probably just a freaky looking guppy male.

Your thoughts?

Kevin



Overall Tank pic- You cannot an idea of the size of the fish compared to the females and the male in the background.
Fish of interest is on the right side, centered in the water column. A male is above, but further back.
View attachment 1386953spied

Looks like a male and inbred fish after a few generations will have fry with unusual shapes, color, or deformities.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Honestly in my opinion you got a lil unlucky/lucky (depends on how u look at it). It most likely has the giant Gene and if that's the case it will never breed. Giants when it comes to guppies are born infertile. I ended up with a male once that had the Gene and he never once reproduced. They are great to look at but sadly cannot be recreated, just like the 3 muppies I have currently.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Here's a few pics of the muppies I have. Muppies cannot reproduce because they are a hybrid between mollies and guppies

 

[kkirkt]

Thanks for the info. I was unfamiliar with the giant gene in guppies. I"ll platoon moving a few more males to that tanks just in case. Interesting to see you muppies.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Thanks for the info. I was unfamiliar with the giant gene in guppies. I"ll platoon moving a few more males to that tanks just in case. Interesting to see you muppies.

Yeah it sucks about the giant Gene and the muppies being un-able to reproduce but atleast it makes an interesting fish to look at. I personally had to remove the muppies from my tank because they recently became aggressive towards some other fish in the tank, mainly the neon tetras and the new angel fish.

 

[kkirkt]

I'd like to be able to keep neon tetras (or cardinal tetras) but since my tank is brackish, I can't. Thanks for the info on the giant gene.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

I'd like to be able to keep neon tetras (or cardinal tetras) but since my tank is brackish, I can't. Thanks for the info on the giant gene.

No problem. Always happy to help in some way. Yeah I have a school of 10 neons with my guppy/endler crosses but I have them in a full freshwater tank. O btw I took a few updated pics of my muppies that i'll post here. It's hard to see the blue in the ones stripes but atleast you can see the stripes are there.