Endler's Livebearer

Endler's livebearer is a small poeciliid of the family Poeciliidae, native to the Paria Peninsula lagoons of northeastern Venezuela and closely related to the common guppy. Males are dazzlingly colored with neon orange, green, and black patches and are highly variable, while females are larger and plain silvery. It is a peaceful, active, and very prolific fish best kept in groups with more females than males to spread breeding activity. It occupies the upper and middle levels and suits calm community tanks with similarly small species. A planted tank with hard, alkaline water and some algae growth suits it. It readily eats flakes, small live and frozen foods, and grazes on biofilm. As a livebearer it produces broods of free-swimming fry very frequently; providing plant cover helps some survive. Care is taken to avoid hybridizing it with guppies to keep strains pure.