Guppy strains that are often mislabeled as endlers
One thing that’s been a reoccurring issue in the hobby is when people often times mislabels guppy strains as endler strains. Okay when obtaining guppy strains that are labeled as endlers good chance they are pure reticulata or have a reticulata origin due to hybridization, and you can’t tell without genetically testing or asking the creator of the strains for a pedigree \*which is impossible lol\*. The reason for this misidentification is usually due to the size and phenotypes of certain strains being “endler like”, commercial fisheries/breeders labeling them as endlers to sell for a higher profit, and/or people generally aren’t knowledgeable enough to know the difference between reticulata and wingei. I can’t speak for a lot of strains of guppies in the hobby and in the wild, but here’s a few examples that comes to mind that majority of the time gets commercially labeled as endlers.
\- Japan blue guppy: this is a hit or miss but Japan Blue originally came from feral fancy guppies living in the river systems in a certain area of Japan in the early 1990’s. Idk the original person who caught the founding specimens but as been told they are purely reticulata. Originally the Japan blue (JB) trait is a Y-linked trait that express on the back half of the guppies body with a blue iridescent sheen, same zone as halfblack/tuxedo (nigrocaudus) gene. As of late breeders manage to make that trait cross over to the X chromosome making it possible for females to pass the JB trait and males passing it on both sex chromosomes. Also breeders used male Japan blue guppies to hybridize with pure wingei females to make smaller more compact Japan blue endlerguppy strains, which they fall under K-Class category. Japan blue was never a wingei trait it was a reticulata trait bred into a hybrid that’s been breed to pure wingei over time.
\- Ginga rubra guppy: this here is a classic guppy strain created by master breeder Kenjiro Tanaka (also known for Tanaka’s candlelight guppy and plus more). The origin of this strain is pretty simple he wanted a more nice small robust short tailed guppy strain so he used feral guppies and crossed them to blonde type fancy guppies I assumed females, which over time he selected for the blotching markings with the blonde base of that strain. They have been commercially labeled as endlers to make a profit unfortunately people seem to forgot such a classic strain of guppy basically passing around a guppy as an endler. Ginga means galaxy due to how iridescent the strain is and rubra means red for the red blotches seen on the males.
\- Vienna Emerald guppy: this is alsoooo another classic strain of guppies someone are confused for endlers. They were created in European in early to mid 1900’s if I can recall. Breeders selected the strain for a primitive wildtype appearance which were based off Ojvind Winge paper on guppy genetics. This strain idk in-depth on gene traits off the top of my head so I had to look up the exact name for the gene which is called “smaragd iridenscens” which is supposedly a Y-linked trait paired with the swordtail types which is also Y-linked passed from father to son. From what I can find. They express those nice green zebrinus bars. I assume based off their phenotype they are mistaken for endlers or endlerguppy hybrids.
\- Any feral/wildtype guppy: guppies are basically everywhere in the world except Antarctica. Guppies were used as mosquito vector control not endlers. They’ve been around possibly before endlers were getting popular in the hobby depended on the region. When people go out to collect these feral guppies, people would think they are endlers mainly because they express primitive phenotypes. Individuals vary Poecilia reticulata is a highly polymorphic species even more diverse than endlers genetically, and phenotypically.
Picture credits: “Japan blue guppy” Karen Kooman (1), “K-class Japan blue endlerguppy hybrid” Owen Long (2), “Ginga rubra guppy” Michael Jensen’s Aquariums (3&4), “Vienna Emerald double sword guppy” Stan de Jong (5), “Vienna Emerald double sword guppy” Clause Osche (6), “Caracas, Venezuela - Native guppy” Adrian HD (7&8), “Italy - Feral” Matteo Pillitteri (9), “Jamaica - Feral guppy” Tobi (10&11)