How many fry gives birth to guppies and other breeding features

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

One of the most popular fish for home aquariums is guppies. She is unpretentious and beautiful, therefore she fell in love with both beginners and experienced aquarists, and besides, she surprises with the nuances of reproduction.

Description of guppy fish

Guppies are freshwater fish, although in their homeland, in South America, they also live in slightly brackish waters. Omnivorous.

The size of guppies ranges from 1.5 to 7 centimeters and depends on age, sex and conditions of detention: males are usually smaller than females, and in a tank that is too close, the fish slow down growth and can forever remain dwarfs. The wild form of guppies is unattractive, but breeders have bred many breeds of bright colors, often with long fins. It is worth noting that males are much more beautiful than females, and therefore, if offspring are not required, it is possible to keep only males.

However, females also have interesting features. Most aquarium fish spawn, but guppies are viviparous, that is, small fish are born immediately, not eggs.

How to know if a fish is pregnant

Guppy become sexually mature at 3-4 months: at this age, the fish are already able to breed. If females are kept together with males, pregnancy will come quickly, and you can recognize it by the appearance of the fish. The belly of a pregnant guppy is rounded. This is more noticeable from the front and side. The longer the period, the more convex the belly becomes and the more visible the sides are when viewed from above. By the way, on this basis, you can distinguish a pregnant fish from an overeaten one - in the latter case, the bulge appears only from below. The size of the abdomen also depends on the number of cubs. Therefore, it is difficult to unambiguously answer the question of how many fry a guppy gives birth. This indicator varies individually.

Experienced aquarists who know their fish are also able to determine the onset of pregnancy and its duration by the spot near the anus of the female. But this method is unreliable, as in some guppies it appears at puberty, even before pregnancy, and persists throughout life.

It is surprising that sometimes after one fertilization, the female can give birth to fry several times, approximately every month and a half. The genetic material of the male in this case may be enough for up to a year.

How is childbirth going

Pregnancy usually lasts 21-40 days. You can understand that a guppy is about to give birth by the following signs:

• The belly of a guppy, when viewed from the side, looks trapezoidal, the angle between the head and abdomen is clearly visible.
• The fish always tries to be nearheater, if available in the aquarium.
• Her activity decreases, the guppy often freezes in place.
• Appetite worsens or disappears altogether.
• Immediately before giving birth, the fish is trembling.
• If the expectant mother is in the same aquarium with the males, shortly before the birth, they may begin to pursue her, poking their nose in the stomach.

It is important to transfer the female to a separate container before the fry appear. Otherwise, other fish, including male guppies, may eat the newborns. Complicating the situation is that the fish often give birth at night or early in the morning, and it is easy to miss the right moment. It is best to transplant the female immediately, at the first sign of impending labor.

At the time of the birth of fry, the fish sometimes freezes. They come out in turn, they can be already mobile and tend to hide behind plants or decorations, and sometimes, on the contrary, they lie down on the bottom and gain strength. The duration of childbirth varies, in some cases it reaches four hours or even more - it depends on the age and physical condition of the female. How many fry a guppy gives birth also plays an important role. In any case, after giving birth, it is advisable to give the fish a rest and only after a day transplant it into a common aquarium.

How many fry a guppy gives birth at a time

It is known that spawning fish can bring many offspring at once, but what about guppies? In fact, viviparous fish are capable of bringing up to two hundred fry at a time. But this is the maximum number, and the minimum can be only ten. The average amount- from 30 to 90 fish.

How many fry a guppy can give birth to depends on some factors:

• If the female gives birth for the first time, the offspring is not numerous - up to 20 cubs.
• After the first birth within a year or two, the number of fry will increase, and after that it will decrease again. That is, older fish also do not bring large offspring.
• In case of repeated births after one fertilization in the past, the number of fry will decrease each time.
• Adult large individuals often give birth to about a hundred fry at once.

Interesting facts about guppies

• Due to their unpretentiousness, guppies have acclimatized in Russia: a small population lives in the Moskva River and some other water bodies of the country. Apparently, they were originally released there by aquarists.
• Guppies successfully exterminate the larvae of malarial mosquitoes. The fish have even been spread across most of Earth's warm waters to help control the pest.



• The fish were named after the scientist and priest, the Englishman Robert Guppy. In 1886, he was the first to make a report on viviparous fish. It is noteworthy that he was ridiculed, not believing in the discovery.
• Guppies are the world's first fish to travel into space. On board the Soviet Salyut-5 orbital station, they even managed to bring offspring. Unfortunately, it is not known how many fry a guppy gives birth in space.

These are such amazing guppy fish.