Talk:Guppy

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Contents

[edit] Taxonomy

The class is wrong. Pisces is a superclass. GerardM 08:45, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Should be okay now. Hadal 20:48, 24 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Reference for Camouflage vs. Sexual attraction studies

This section is interesting, but it would be nice to have a reference:

"Recent studies suggest that vividly colored males are favored via sexual selection (Handicap principle) while natural selection via predation favors subdued tones. As a result, the dominant phenotypes observed within a reproductively isolated community are a function of the relative importance each factor has in a particular environment."

Domandologo 12:36, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

along with that, I've never read anything (peer-reviewed literature) about male guppies having any colouring other than orange/red and occasionally black when in the wild. It'd my understanding that the other colours a result of selective breeding for the pet industry, similar to most of the colour variation seen in captive Betta splendens Opendestiny (talk) 22:25, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Naming

The fish should be at just "guppy", because all the other meanings are far less common. Stan 17:01, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Hi, This is my first contribution. GuppY is also a CMS (Content Managment System). www.freeguppy.org Esteban

[edit] Can we find the "2004 study"?

It would be nice to have that study as a reference; unfortunately, not even the author names are given! - Samsara contrib talk 21:21, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

  • The Social Organisation of the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) - Darren Paul Croft - PhD Thesis - University of Leeds, School of Biology, October 2003. pdf link
  • D. P. Croft, J. Krause, and R. James. Social networks in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biology Letters, 2004. (from research proposal at [1])
  • See also http://www.darrencroft.co.uk/
Guettarda 21:48, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Surprising degree of salinity"

This wording is unsuitable for an encyclopaedia. Anyone have info on how much salinity they can withstand? Guettarda 15:53, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

I take that back - 58 ppt is surprising! Guettarda 16:04, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commented out "Fishes of 12 cm are the norm."

[2] Originally placed 24 February 2004 by User:GerardM, I have searched at the library, on the web, and at the American Livebearers Association website. Nowhere is there a reference to any guppies of this size nor can I find a reference to them being introduced in the area stated. The entry is not deleted just commented out until GerardM can provide sources/citations/references. →ΣcoPhreekΔ 05:27, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry Guettarda didn't realise you had already approached the original author of that statement, however that was over 6 weeks ago and the information still hasn't been provided, I think its more important to comment out the posssibly wrong information until it can be verified rather than leave it in the article and it end up being disseminated onto the net as fact (which has already happened). Let me know if i'm wrong. →ΣcoPhreekΔ 05:37, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Guppy" picture

I noticed that the picture on this page is actually a related livebearer: Endler's Livebearer (Poecilia wingei), rather than a "guppy" (Poecilia reticulata). Though Endler's as a separate species has been historically disputed, it's accepted now. Could we rename this picture as Endler's and move it to the Endler's article, and perhaps find a guppy picture? Chrisverde 18:28, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Don't survive well in closed environments"?

What is meant by this statement? Is a closed environment a fish tank? If that is the case then the above statement is in direct conflict with the statement that guppies are one of the hardiest aquarium fish. Hello

  • I have no clue. Looks like it was added back on the 29th of Sept, by 67.70.119.203. I suggest it be removed... it makes no sense in the context, has no citation and it out of place in the reproduction section. 70.105.91.228

[edit] Terrible wording

The first sentence is not even a sentence... I don't know enough about guppies to be able to fix it. "Although if a female is put in the breeder box too early or late it will cause her to have a miscarriage. Never move a female of all livebearers species that is more than two weeks away from her due date."--128.239.144.130 18:09, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not accurate anyway. I've moved females into the breeding trap immediately after mating, and I've moved them just hours before they've dropped young. It didn't bother them. Not much interferes with guppy reproduction. I had some Endler's drop in their shipping bag while in the US Mail. It's not uncommon to come home from the fish store with more guppies swimming around the bag than when you left the store. I'll try to find some time to tidy up a bit. Worldwalker (talk) 23:08, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gestation period

Every reference that I can find states the gestation period of a guppy is 18 to 33 DAYS, with an average of 28 DAYS, yet the Wiki entry is "The gestation period of a guppy is 18-22 weeks, with an average of 19.5 weeks." Why is there such a disconnect? If the entry is indeed correct it needs to somehow address why it is so different from most other sources. 72.66.24.19 (talk) 03:08, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Because the article was vandalized. Sorry, it's fixed now. Cool Hand Luke 04:59, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
Good catch. This article needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb as I suspect there is a lot of vandalism and sneaky little errors.--Samiharris (talk) 22:30, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
Guppies.com looks like it could be a particularly good resource to go over and check things with. References to scientific papers are great to allow stringent face checking, but a bit of rule-of-thumb is good when the living environment of an organism can vary so widely and so interdependently. John Nevard (talk) 11:17, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
I can't help thinking that 28 degrees celsius seems a rather high temperature in the temperature range these fish live in, even to encourage reproduction. John Nevard (talk) 08:30, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
28C is at the higher end of the range most tropical tanks are kept in. I can't say whether or not its optimal for guppies, as my guppies have never gotten warmer than 26C, and the one guy I have left is currently living at room temperature (somewhere between 18C and 22C depending on the temperature outside.) --Opendestiny (talk) 22:19, 20 February 2008 (UTC)