biology

Poecilia wingei

Poecilia wingei is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Poecilia wingei rather than just read about it. In short: Poecilia wingei, known to aquarists as Endlers or Endler's livebearer, in the genus Poecilia, is a small fish native to the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela. They are prolific breeders and often hybridize with guppies.

Key takeaways

Poecilia wingei belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect Poecilia wingei to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Poecilia wingei from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Poecilia wingei, known to aquarists as Endlers or Endler's livebearer, in the genus Poecilia, is a small fish native to the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela. They are prolific breeders and often hybridize with guppies. These very colorful hybrids are the easiest to find being offered in pet-shops, typically under the name Endler's guppy.

History Poecilia wingei is a very colorful guppy species, similar to the fancy guppy often found in pet shops. The species was first collected from Laguna de Patos in Venezuela by Franklyn F. Bond in 1937, and rediscovered by Dr. John Endler in 1975. The latter were the first examples of this fish to make it to the aquarium trade. More have been collected since then, notably by Armando Pou, to expand the captive breeding stock. The original Laguna de Patos population is threatened by runoff from a municipal garbage dump. Though it is rare in pet shops, this species is seen occasionally in the aquaria of enthusiasts. In 2024 P.wingei got taken up on IUCN Red List of endangered species, they are in danger of extinction in the wild, as humans enter their natural habitat, releasing invasive species, polluting and destroying it. Hybridization with released P.reticulata also poses a high risk to them in their natural habitat. According to Stan Shubel, the author of Aquarium Care for Fancy Guppies, the Endler guppy is, in fact, not a separate species; claiming it has the same genetic makeup as the common guppy, yet is given its own name, Poecilia wingei, for conservation purposes. However, in 2009 S. Schories, M. K. Meyer and M. Schartl published on the basis of molecular data that Poecilia wingei is a separated taxon at the species level from P. reticulata and P. obscura. In 2014 M. Herdegen et al. published a paper that refutes the assertions and conclusions made by S. Schories et al. concerning the status of Poecilia wingei as a species.

Campoma Poecilia wingei The first population of Poecilia to be given the name Poecilia wingei was discovered in 2005 in the Campoma region of Venezuela by Fred Poeser and Michael Kempkes. This population of P. wingei can be found in Laguna Campoma and in the lagoon's connected streams. Most P. wingei from the Campoma region found in the hobby today are descended from those originally collected by Phil Voisin (Philderodez). The most popular collecting site in the Campoma region for P. Wingei has been the Campoma bridge location. P. wingei phenotypes collected from the Campoma bridge location are identified by a numbering system from 1 through 70. P. wingei from the Campoma region are also known as the Campoma guppy.

Cumana Poecilia wingei

Poecilia wingei from the Cumana region were originally known as Endler's guppy. Endler's livebearer, originally discovered in 1975 by John Endler and are found in Laguna Patos and in the lagoon's connected streams and canals, was actually a micropoecilia species that is believed to be extinct. In 2009 the Schories et al. publication broadened the definition of P. wingei to include Endler's livebearer. Most P. wingei from the Cumana region found in the hobby today are descended from those collected by Armando Pau and were line bred and distributed to hobbyists by Adrian Hernandez (AdrianHD). P. Wingei from the Cumana region are also known as the Cumana guppy.

El Tigre Poecilia wingei

El Tigre are Poecilia wingei collected from the El Tigre stream in the Campoma region of Venezuela. The El Tigre stream is not connected to Laguna Campoma so the El Tigre belong to their own distinct population. All El Tigre found in the hobby today are descended from those collected by Phil Voisin (Philderodez).

Staeck Endler (hybrid)

The Staeck guppy was collected by Dr. Wolfgang Staeck in a creek around Laguna de los Patos in Cumana in 2004. Karen Koomans obtained a Staeck guppy male from the Hamburg University and identified it as pure Poecilia reticulata. Karen Koomans crossed this Staeck guppy male with a 'Yellow Top Sword' Endler female. She introduced the new line to the hobby as the 'Hamburg hybrid Endler strain'.

Japan blue Endler (hybrid)

The original Japan blue wild type guppy was a Poecilia reticulata collected from Lac du Rorata. Lac du Rorota is a reservoir in French Guiana. Karen Koomans received a single male japan blue guppy and crossed it with Cumana Endler females to preserve the strain. Karen Koomans introduced this strain to the hobby as the 'Japan blue wild type guppy'.

Hybrids

Endlers (P. wingei) can be crossed with guppy species (P. reticulata, P. obscura), and the hybrid offspring will be fertile. This is considered to dilute the gene pool and therefore is avoided by fish breeders who wish to maintain pure strains. Avid hobbyists maintain registry records to ensure their Endlers are purebred; undocumented fish sold in pet stores as Endler's livebearers are assumed to have some degree of guppy hybridization. In addition, as P. reticulata has been found in the same bodies of water as P. wingei, natural hybridization may also occur in the wild. Hybridization with fancy guppy strains (selectively bred P. reticulata) often produces bright and colourful offspring. This has led to some hybrids being selectively bred themselves and becoming so common that they may be sold under any number of names such as peacock, snake, tiger, paradise, fancy, or sword Endler and sometimes as flame tail.

In the aquarium Though Poecilia wingei are hardy and undemanding as far as survival goes, proper aquascaping, diet, water parameters, tank mates, along with many other factors such as male to female ratios will determine the strength and appearance of a line.

Breeding

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Poecilia wingei

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Poecilia wingei claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Poecilia wingei before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Poecilia wingei ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Poecilia wingei

In research: Poecilia wingei appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Poecilia wingei in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Poecilia wingei is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Endemic fauna of Venezuela, Fish described in 2005, Fish of Venezuela, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Poecilia wingei outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Poecilia wingei in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Poecilia wingei means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Poecilia wingei out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Poecilia wingei in simple terms?

Why does Poecilia wingei matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Poecilia wingei?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Poecilia wingei.