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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: guppy
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Distinguishing characteristics were provided by Rosen and Bailey (1963); Sigler and Sigler 1987; and Page and Burr (1991). It is included in keys of Minckley (1973) and Sublette et al. (1990). Photographs or illustrations appeared in Minckley (1973), Axelrod et al. (1985), Petrovicky (1988), Sublette et al. (1990), Dawes (1991), Sakurai et al. (1993), and Wischnath (1993). This species was previously known by the name Lebistes reticulatus.
Size: Males to 2.5 cm; females to 5 cm.
Native Range:
West Indies and northern South America from western Venezuela to Guyana (Rosen and Bailey 1963; Page and Burr 1991).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: This species is known from Arizona (Minckley 1973; Courtenay et al. 1984, 1991); California (St. Amant and Hoover 1969; Moyle 1976a; Shapovalov et al. 1981; Courtenay et al. 1984, 1991; Dill and Cordone 1997); Colorado (Zuckerman and Behnke 1986); Connecticut (Whitworth 1996); Florida (Courtenay et al. 1974; J. D. Williams, personal observation); Hawaii (Brock 1960; Kanayama 1968; Maciolek 1984; Devick 1991b; Tilmant 1999; Mundy 2005); Idaho (Linder 1964; Baxter and Simon 1970; Simpson and Wallace 1978; Courtenay 1985; Courtenay et al. 1987; Idaho Fish and Game 1990); Missouri (Keevin 1978); Montana (Moyle 1976a); Nevada (Deacon et al. 1964; Moyle 1976a; Williams and Williams 1981; Courtenay and Deacon 1982, 1983; Deacon and Williams 1984; Vinyard 2001); New Mexico (Sublette et al. 1990); Texas (Edwards 1976; Hubbs et al. 1978; Courtenay et al. 1984; Conner and Suttkus 1986; Courtenay et al. 1991; Hubbs et al. 1991; Howells 1992a); Utah (F. B. Guttermuth, personal communication); Wisconsin (Becker 1983); and Wyoming (Baxter and Simon 1970; Courtenay et al. 1987; Hubert 1994; Stone 1995; Tilmant 1999). Also introduced in several reservoirs in Puerto Rico (Erdsman 1984; Lee et al 1983).
Means of Introduction: Most introductions probably due to fish farm or aquarium releases (e.g., Zuckerman and Behnke 1986; Courtenay and Meffe 1989; Howells 1992a; Dill and Cordone 1997). Some of the California introductions were for mosquito control (Shapovalov et al. 1981; Dill and Cordone 1997).
Status: Locally established in warmwater sites in Hawaii (Devick 1991b), Idaho (Courtenay et al. 1988), New Mexico (Sublette et al. 1990), Nevada (Courtenay and Deacons 1983), Texas (Hubbs et al. 1991), and Wyoming (Courtenay et al. 1988); reported from California (Shapovalov et al. 1981), Colorado (Zuckerman and Behnke 1986), Connecticut (Whitworth 1996), Missouri (Keevin 1978), Montana (Moyle 1976a), and Wisconsin (Becker 1983). Considered as established in Arizona by Minckley (1973); however, according to Courtenay and Meffe (1989), populations in Arizona and Florida do not appear to be self-sustaining. Although introduced widely in Texas, the only established population is one found in the San Antonio River near Brackenridge Park (Hubbs et al. 1991).
Impact of Introduction:
The guppy is considered a hazard to native cyprinids and killifishes (Sigler and Sigler 1987). For instance, it has adversely affected the White River springfish Crenichthys baileyi in a Nevada spring (Deacon et al. 1964). Two subspecies of this springfish are now listed as federally endangered (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993a), and three others are proposed for listing (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1994). The guppy has also been implicated in the decline of the Utah sucker Catostomus ardens in a thermal spring in Wyoming (Courtenay et al. 1988). The guppy has become the dominant species in some warm water springs in the west (Courtenay, personal communication). Courtenay and Meffe (1989) summarized the effect of this species on native fishes. This species also presents a threat because it is a known carrier of certain exotic trematode parasites (Leberg and Vrijenhoek 1994).
Guppies, and other introduced poeciliids, have been implicated in the decline of native damselflies on Oahu, Hawaii. Often the distributions of the damselflies and introduced fishes were found to be mutually exclusive, probably resulting from predation of the fish on the insects (Englund 1999).
Remarks:
This species has had a long and popular history as an ornamental fish. A wide variety of strains differing in color and fin shape have been cultivated by aquarists (Axelrod et al. 1985; Sakurai et al. 1993; Wischnath 1993). Some fish reported from the United States as P. reticulata actually may represent one of the other species in the genus. In 1989, M. Rauchenberger (personal communication) examined the P. reticulata voucher specimens (UF 91918) taken from Kelly Warm Springs, Wyoming, in 1984 by Courtenay et al. (1988), but she could not confirm that identification and labeled them as Poecilia species.
Voucher specimens: Nevada (TU 94347, 123712, 123718), Texas (TNHC 8958).
This species is proven through experimentation to be an alternative host to native mussel glochidia of Lampsilis cardium and Utterbackia imbecillis (Watters and O'Dee 1998).
Axelrod, H. R., W. E. Burgess, N. Pronek, and J. G. Walls. 1985. Dr. Axelrod's atlas of freshwater aquarium fishes. Tropical Fish Hobbyist Publications, Inc., Neptune City, NJ.
Courtenay, W. R., Jr., H. F. Sahlman, W. W. Miley, II, and D. J. Herrema. 1974. Exotic fishes in fresh and brackish waters of Florida. Biological Conservation 6(4):292-302.
Devick, W. S. 1991b. Patterns of introductions of aquatic organisms to Hawaiian freshwater habitats. Pages 189-213 in new directions in research, management and conservation of Hawaiian freshwater stream ecosystems. Proceedings of the 1990 symposium on freshwater stream biology and fisheries management, Division of Aquatic Resources, Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Englund, R.A. 1999. The impacts of introduced poeciliid fish and Odonata on the endemic Megalagrion (Odonata) damselflies of Oahu Island, Hawaii. Journal of Insect Conservation 3:225-243.
Erdsman, D.S. 1984. Exotic fishes in
Maciolek, J. A. 1984. Exotic fishes in Hawaii and other islands of Oceania. Pages 131-161 in W. R. Courtenay, Jr., and J. R. Stauffer, Jr., editors. Distribution, biology, and management of exotic fishes. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Mundy, B. C. 2005. Fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Museum Bulletins in Zoology, Number 6.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.
Petrovicky, I. 1988. Aquarium fish of the world. Hamlyn, London, England.
Rosen, D. E., and R. M. Bailey. 1963. The poeciliid fishes (Cyprinodontiformes), their structure, zoogeography, and systematics. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 126:1-176.
Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.
Watters, T.G. and S.H. O'Dee. 1998. Metamorphosis of freshwater mussel glochidia (Bivalvia: Unionidae) on amphibians and exotic fishes. Am. Midl. Nat. 139: 49-57.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Leo Nico
Revision Date: 4/21/2006 Citation for this information:
Leo Nico. 2009. Poecilia reticulata. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=863> Revision Date: 4/21/2006
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