A little more about Endler, habitats and wild fish
 

The first natural habitat described for Poecilia wingei (Endler) consisted of a group of shallow water bodies where fresh and salt water on the outskirts of Cumaná mix.

During the rainy season, these waters mix with each other, and during the dry season, they turn into lakes. This is when salinity changes according to connections with the ocean. This environment is characterized by fresh and salt water. This is a typical environment of coastal areas surrounded by black mangroves.

The whole region is practically a desert with a dry and hot climate.

The first specimens brought into captivity during the 1975 expedition came from these hard waters, densely populated with unicellular algae, which gave it a very intense green color and poor transparency.

The temperature of these waters was around 27 ° C at the time of collection.

Some sources he consulted argue that the Laguna de Los Patos was eventually formed due to the slow development of the dune system off the coast of northwestern Venezuela.

The movements of inert materials on the coast eventually created a gap that gradually turned into a lagoon completely isolated from the ocean.

The original seawater was slowly losing its salinity due to rain and the inflow of fresh water into this new lake, causing the current environment.

Armando Pou, when describing his last trip to the place, states that “in order to understand the origins of Endler’s guppy, we need to know the history of Kumana.

Cumaná was the first fortified settlement of immigrants from Europe on the South American continent.

Cumaná Fortress consists of a solid limestone wall built on top of this coastal town.

From here, the Spanish conquerors were able to defend the two sources of wealth that justified their presence, the pearl trade and the large salt mine.

Cumano was hit by a major hurricane one year. Heavy rain caused a flood that destroyed the entrance to the mine and flooded it. They tried several times to drain the water from the mine, but failed and the mine was abandoned.

That is how Laguna dos Patos would be born.

In the following period, many earthquakes occurred in this area. Some of these destroyed the city and caused deviations in the flow of the Manzanares River. We speculate whether this seismic activity in connection with floods and river diversions played a role in the composition of fauna in the various lakes in the region.

During my first visit to Cumane, I mistakenly replaced Laguna Malaguenha with Laguna dos Patos.

Laguna Malaguenha is a lagoon at the mouth, while Laguna dos Patos (in the dry season the water on the surface reaches up to 30 ‰, while in the rainy season the salinity is barely above zero), is actually a lake.

Both the land and other small bodies of water communicate during the rainy season through a number of drainage canals that allow runoff into the sea.

Both Laguna dos Patos and Laguna Malaguenha, meanwhile, have been fragmented by roads and modern mining activities to extract cement raw materials.

Professor John A. Endler believed that in the region where the Pariah Peninsula joins the continent, he might still find some kind of existing population. The search was unsuccessful for 30 years until two European scientists - N. Poeser and Michael Kempkes - discovered more populations of this species in the Campoma lagoon, on the Pária peninsula in the lagoon, in July 2002.  Buena Vista (Cariaco) and in the Carúpano region, Sucre State, Venezuela. 

At all new locations, the type of environment is very diverse in terms of physico - chemical properties, dynamics of water movement and its transparency.

Males of wild endlers are described as polychromatic, so they have a variety of color combinations. They also have characteristic dark or black spots, which distinguishes them from the ordinary guppy.

Females are brown, almost the same as ordinary guppies, except for the length and slight metallic luster.

Until the discovery of wild populations in 2002, knowledge of the biology and ecology of wild populations was acquired only on the basis of experience with captive fish.

The described behavior in wild populations has yielded a number of revelations that have isolated the Poecilia wingei species from the Poecilia reticulata.

In behavioral terms, it is a very peaceful species that is considered suitable for living with all types of aquarium companions.

Due to the variety of original color patterns, kindness and tolerance to other inhabitants of the aquarium, this fish is ideal for lovers, so it is highly desirable in the market.

There are no records of incompatibility with other species, but it is better to keep these fish in aquariums intended only for them, as we run the risk of being mistaken for prey by other larger or more aggressive species.

The animals observed in their natural habitat are arranged along the banks in groups of about fifty adults and even more young fish at different stages of development.

There are also some subgroups consisting of 6 to 10 adult females defending the territory in which they move and feed. Other fish that do not belong to these groups and eventually approach them are the targets of aggression and attacks by the largest and most powerful fish of the group, which they drive far away.

When the size and strength of two opponents are almost the same, they threaten each other but do not fight. Very rarely, short-term fights occur, at the end of which the fish resume normal activities. A scientific paper describing the species suggests that this territorial behavior may be related to the defense of food areas or to sexual selection.

Near groups of females, some males are still waiting for the opportunity to mate. 

In larger groups, greater competitiveness of males is evident, revealing greater courtship efforts.

During the mating process of both species, several behavioral differences were mentioned in the original paper by Poeser, Kempkes, and Isbrücker (2005).

In nature, both Endler's guppies represent incredibly diverse patterns, despite the internet-rooted myth that wild individuals must be similar to those collected by Professor Endler. As he himself admitted, these fish were just samples.

So far, no credible study has been published on all known forms, so mixing them up to enrich your genetic heritage can actually destroy the genetic integrity of isolated groups, which may even form a whole new species.

Professor Endler mentioned that he had difficulty obtaining hybrids with the common guppies and believed that their offspring would be infertile, today we know this is not the case.

Probably wild-caught fish are reluctant to mate with close relatives, but native aquarium-bred populations are more prone to hybridization.

Because of this, never cross your genuine endlers with a plain guppy source. Do not keep them together in the same aquarium. 

Even assuming that these are the same species, we will infect both strains and thus lead to the loss of genetic variability that exists today.

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Source: http://www.viviparos.com/