Guppy

• It is live-bearing: the young are born fully formed and swim straight away.
• It eats algae, small invertebrates and mosquito larvae.
• It has been widely introduced around the world to control mosquitoes.
• reproducciónIt breeds very fast, and females can store sperm from several males, so one brood may have young by different fathers.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - bony skeleton (fish)

Habitat and environment

Warm streams, rivers and fresh water of South America and the Caribbean; widely introduced worldwide

Birth weight

The young fully formed at birth (a viviparous species)

Size at birth

Born fully formed, able to swim and avoid danger at once

Sexual maturity

Male: ~7-8 weeks | Female: 10-20 weeks

Gestation / incubation

21-35 days (average ~28 days)

Litter / clutch size

3 to over 100 young per litter, the female able to store sperm for several litters from a single mating

Life expectancy in captivity

2-3 years in captivity

Sources consulted: A-Z Animals; Fishlore; ResearchGate (breeding biology study); FishBase; AquaHoy; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); KÜRE Encyclopedia; EasyClean Aquatics