Historic Briefing

Endlers (Poecilia Wingei) evolved from guppies (Poecilia Reticulata) separated by natural boundaries, stranded in pea green coastal waters of Cumana and Campoma regions of Venezuela. Adapting to near zero visibility, algae-filled lagoonal environment, Poecilia Wingei refined Poecilia Reticulata’s rudimentary color-based, mate selection modifying to a female’s choice, marginally consensual process. Males, toting an array of iridescent colors, perform mating displays designed to reflect the equator’s sunlight for female’s approval. Unlike guppy’s aggressive breeding style, endlers evolved a one-on-one routine, color-based, and ritualistic style. Male Endlers developed highly polymorphic, individualistic coloring to stand out in the group. Males with more and brighter colors were rewarded with additional breeding opportunities.

Floods, earthquakes, and storms distributed endlers throughout the waterways of the Campoma and Cumana regions. Endler’s seclusion diminished as man molded the local landscape. Escalating environmental deterioration started with Spaniards in 1498; mining, diverting waterways, and polluting continues today. Originally documented in the 1930s, the rediscovery of endlers in 1975 opened doors for importation to the United States. In the 1990s through 2000s, Armando Pou collected wild Endlers in Cumana waterways sending them to one distributor in US-based in Florida. Early in the 2000s, Philippe Voisin of France collected endlers from Campoma regions. These two factions of endler distributors do not see eye-to-eye in defining P.Wingei; that has lead to a rift in solidarity of available endler populations.

Through man’s intervention, guppies have slowly found their way back into endler-based waterways. Guppy breeding practices do not match endlers however. Guppies and endlers can breed resulting in fertile hybrids. Wild endler populations face genetic dilution, habitat destruction, and predatory pressure from newly introduced cichlids from the Amazon basin. Debate continues whether there are pure endlers left in their native waters.

Endlers face their greatest challenge now. 99% of all fish sold as Endlers are either hybrids or simply dwarf guppies. There are only a few breeders left who keep pure strains of endlers. For new hobbyists, it is nearly impossible to find and purchase pure-blooded endlers. We analyzed the endler’s situation with a coalition of purist breeders. Our conclusion is “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

The history of endlers may end in the wild, however, keeping P. Wingei as a species is possible if we make pure-blooded stock available to enthusiasts around our world. We can organize and make endlers available through regional, registered breeders to everyone who wants them. Our goal is to have breeders of Pure Cumana Endlers and Genuine Campona Endlers organized with a defined vision for the species.