Guppy Facts
Guppy Facts
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| Interesting Guppy Facts: |
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| Guppy can reach 1.5 to 3 inches in length. Females are larger than males. |
| Guppy is also known as rainbow fish because of the brightly colored body and fins. Females are generally duller in color (or even grey-colored in the wild). Males are brightly colored and covered with spots, stripes and splashes. |
| Thanks to selective breeding, there are hundreds of different types of guppy today. They differ in size, color and patterns on the body and shape of the tail. |
| Guppy has small head, elongated body and prominent tail that can be veil-, lace-, flag- or lyre-shaped. Even though smaller in size, males have larger and more colorful tails than females. |
| Guppy is named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy who discovered this fish in Trinidad in 1866. |
| Guppy is an omnivore. It eats algae and larvae of various insects in the wild, and tropical fish flakes and brine shrimps in the captivity. |
| Guppies have been introduced to numerous rivers in Asia to reduce number of larvae of mosquito and help in the fight against malaria. |
| Natural enemies of guppy are birds (such as kingfisher) and large species of fish. |
| Guppy can mate all year round. Females mate with numerous males (phenomenon known as polyandry) and store sperm in the body for the later use. Females can produce offspring during the next 8 months without assistance of males thanks to the stash of sperm in their body. |
| Females give birth to live babies that can be seen even before birth thanks to see-through body of a female. |
| Females in the captivity give birth to 20 to 60 babies (fry) each month, while females in the wild produce 2 to 3 litters per year. In rare instances, pregnancy can end with 100 to 200 babies. |
| Guppy is also known as Million Fish because it reproduces easily and produces numerous offspring in short period of time. |
| Babies (fry) are able to fend for themselves from the moment of birth. Some of the biggest threats for their survival are adult members of their own species that eat fry to prevent overcrowding of their habitat. |
| Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 months, females at the age of 3 months. |
| Guppy has an average lifespan of 1 to 3 (rarely up to 5) years. |
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