gambusia affinis and guppy cross?

[ayra321]

hey i was just wondering if anybody has ever crossed a gambusia affinis with a guppy? if so id love to see a picture. i was thinking,hoping, it might have the hardy quality of the mosquito fish along with the colors of a guppy making it a perfect pond fish!of course it may not work out that way : id still like to see a pic if someone has one,thanx!

 

[jpappy789]

Just with a quick google search I see a lot of different opinions on whether it can even be gone genetically.

As far as I can tell, even if its possible...the gambusa are going to be terrors to the guppies.

 

[jm1212]

i dont think its possible...the fish are too distantly related. that said, guppies will try, but mosquito fish will be really nasty to the guppies.

 

[vampie]

It's been done before, a quick search on Google should net you some forum threads about it and perhaps some pictures. The big problem of course, as others have mentioned, is the aggressiveness of Gambusia.

 

[ayra321]

yeah i have had gambusia for years and they are very hardy little fish
and if it could be done i would probable expose a female guppy to a male gambusia for a small amount of time and then seperate them so that the female does get inseminated but cannot be abused by the male.i would never introduce a population of gambusia to guppies that would be tragic!
as for the online search i have found the same results,yes and no with no definite answer.but for the impossibility because the species are different i would think that it is not 100%true because if you look at the body they are almost exactly the same and they have the same mating organs and the same gestation period. the females even have the same pregnancy spot.
^
(ya i know it is pretty similar for most livebearers)
thanx for your replies.

 

[jpappy789]

Not all livebearers can interbreed. It tends to be exclusive by species (Poecilia vs. Xipophorus)

 

[vampie]

Ayra, while I don't remember every person who has done a Gambusia/Guppy cross, I'm pretty sure AdrianHD (a well-known Endler breeder) has done it. He's on Endersrus, Aquabid, and probably a few other places, perhaps you could get in contact with him and ask what his experience was like.

And yeah, Guppies and Mosquitofish can breed outside of their own genus. The genera Poecilia (Guppies, Endlers and Mollies), Gambusia (Mosquitofish) and Limia can hybridize with one another if I'm not mistaken.

 

[ayra321]

thanx for the good info.i was just wondering if anybody has done it before because i have a blonde female who came from the petstore pregnant and two white male gambusia with black spots,so i was hoping to get a virgin female and try it,because it would be wonderful to have a both pretty and hardy fish. i was just wondering if it was even possible.

 

[amazonbrown@yah]

Considering the entirely different genus, I would think that it would be unlikely. However, fishes from different genuses have been successfully crossed resulting in fertile and infertile hybrid offspring.

 

[ayra321]

well we'll just have to wait,my female looks like a balloon,i'll have to raise the fry,and i'll(if it works) i'll have to wait for the virgin female to give birth.