At just 3cm long, guppies (seven-colours or millions) are Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s (T&T\u2019s) smallest freshwater fish. Males are adorned with spots and stripes of orange, black and iridescent yellows, blues and greens. Every male is different, and females select a mate according to who is brightest, healthiest or most unique. Females give birth to live babies, not eggs. They also store sperm, which means that just one female in a pond can generate more than a hundred guppies in just a few months.<\/p>\n
How the guppy got its name<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1866, Robert Lechmere Guppy caught a guppy in the St Ann\u2019s River and sent it to the British Museum, where it was named \u2018guppii<\/em>\u2019 in his honour. However, it was soon discovered that the same species had already been described from Venezuela, so the \u2018guppii<\/em>\u2019 was lost. However, in the early 1900s, Mr Guppy\u2019s son began exporting fish for the aquarium trade, and it is likely at this point that the family name \u2018guppy\u2019 was popularised internationally.<\/p>\n History of the science of guppies<\/strong><\/p>\n While descendants of Guppy\u2019s guppy were being selectively bred in Europe and North America to become increasingly colourful and fan-tailed, in the 1940s, the humble wild populations in Trinidad caught the attention of scientists.<\/p>\n Soon, the Northern Range had become known as a \u2018natural laboratory\u2019 where profound discoveries would be made. Most famously, how evolution by natural selection can take place in guppies within just a few generations. These days, if you pick up any textbook on evolutionary biology, you will find \u2018Trinidadian guppy\u2019 in the index and pages devoted to work that took place here in the streams of the Northern Range.<\/p>\n These days, guppy research has broadened to include genomics, mate choice, memory, disease, ecosystem function, nutrient cycling, invasive species and social networks. Work-based in the Department of Life Sciences has included research relevant to many of these themes, in particular invasive species and social networks.<\/p>\n Guppies as an invasive species<\/strong><\/p>\n While guppies are found naturally in Trinidad and Tobago, they have been transported around the globe by humans. Initially kept as aquarium fish or added to outdoor water tanks to control mosquitoes, guppies inevitably escape into natural water bodies, where they can have a negative ecological impact. Populations are now established in over 70 countries across every continent except Antarctica. This makes guppies unusual, as most species are unable to thrive outside of their natural range due to differences in predators, food or climate. By studying guppies here in Trinidad, we can begin to understand what makes a successful invader and how we can prevent other species with similar traits from being given the opportunity to establish.<\/p>\n The social lives of guppies<\/strong><\/p>\n Guppies are highly social and often form large shoals. There are several reasons for spending time in large groups, perhaps the most important being protection from predators, who find it harder to target a group than an individual. However, it is becoming clear that guppy group behaviour is more sophisticated than we first gave it credit for. Just like we have networks of contacts in real life and on social media, guppies\u2019 lives can be considered part of a social network of connections with other guppies. By studying guppy networks, we are learning more about social behaviour in other species, including our own.<\/p>\n Potential for more research<\/strong><\/p>\n Guppies are a part of our country\u2019s natural heritage and have placed Trinidad and Tobago on the map in the world of science. Tens of scientists visit the country every year solely to work with this species. There is still great potential for discovering more using guppies, not just in terms of the \u2018blue sky\u2019 research of evolution and behaviour, but also in the real world, for example, by helping us predict and manage invasive species.<\/p>\n When Lechmere Guppy caught that specimen near his home in 1866, he could never have predicted that more than 150 years later, scientists would still be studying this fascinating little fish!<\/p>\n Dr Amy Deacon is a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, whose research focuses on biodiversity, freshwater ecosystems, invasive species, and behavioural ecology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Often referred to locally as a lowly \u2018drain fish\u2019, many are surprised to learn that a species that is found in almost every stream, pond and drain in Trinidad is, in fact, a global celebrity. Not only are guppies sought after by aquarists, who enjoy the colour they bring to the aquarium, but they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"Often referred to locally as a lowly \u2018drain fish\u2019, many are surprised to learn that a species that is found in almost every stream, pond and drain in Trinidad is, in fact, a global celebrity. Not only are guppies sought after by aquarists, who enjoy the colour they bring to the aquarium, but they are also utilised by scientists, who have been studying this species since the 1940s to help answer some of the biggest questions facing biology.\r\n\r\nWhat is a guppy? <\/strong>\r\n\r\nAt just 3cm long, guppies (seven-colours or millions) are Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s (T&T\u2019s) smallest freshwater fish. Males are adorned with spots and stripes of orange, black and iridescent yellows, blues and greens. Every male is different, and females select a mate according to who is brightest, healthiest or most unique. Females give birth to live babies, not eggs. They also store sperm, which means that just one female in a pond can generate more than a hundred guppies in just a few months.\r\n\r\nHow the guppy got its name<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn 1866, Robert Lechmere Guppy caught a guppy in the St Ann\u2019s River and sent it to the British Museum, where it was named \u2018guppii<\/em>\u2019 in his honour. However, it was soon discovered that the same species had already been described from Venezuela, so the \u2018guppii<\/em>\u2019 was lost. However, in the early 1900s, Mr Guppy\u2019s son began exporting fish for the aquarium trade, and it is likely at this point that the family name \u2018guppy\u2019 was popularised internationally.\r\n\r\nHistory of the science of guppies<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhile descendants of Guppy\u2019s guppy were being selectively bred in Europe and North America to become increasingly colourful and fan-tailed, in the 1940s, the humble wild populations in Trinidad caught the attention of scientists.\r\n\r\nSoon, the Northern Range had become known as a \u2018natural laboratory\u2019 where profound discoveries would be made. Most famously, how evolution by natural selection can take place in guppies within just a few generations. These days, if you pick up any textbook on evolutionary biology, you will find \u2018Trinidadian guppy\u2019 in the index and pages devoted to work that took place here in the streams of the Northern Range.\r\n\r\nThese days, guppy research has broadened to include genomics, mate choice, memory, disease, ecosystem function, nutrient cycling, invasive species and social networks. Work-based in the Department of Life Sciences has included research relevant to many of these themes, in particular invasive species and social networks.\r\n\r\nGuppies as an invasive species<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhile guppies are found naturally in Trinidad and Tobago, they have been transported around the globe by humans. Initially kept as aquarium fish or added to outdoor water tanks to control mosquitoes, guppies inevitably escape into natural water bodies, where they can have a negative ecological impact. Populations are now established in over 70 countries across every continent except Antarctica. This makes guppies unusual, as most species are unable to thrive outside of their natural range due to differences in predators, food or climate. By studying guppies here in Trinidad, we can begin to understand what makes a successful invader and how we can prevent other species with similar traits from being given the opportunity to establish.\r\n\r\nThe social lives of guppies<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGuppies are highly social and often form large shoals. There are several reasons for spending time in large groups, perhaps the most important being protection from predators, who find it harder to target a group than an individual. However, it is becoming clear that guppy group behaviour is more sophisticated than we first gave it credit for. Just like we have networks of contacts in real life and on social media, guppies\u2019 lives can be considered part of a social network of connections with other guppies. By studying guppy networks, we are learning more about social behaviour in other species, including our own.\r\n\r\nPotential for more research<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGuppies are a part of our country\u2019s natural heritage and have placed Trinidad and Tobago on the map in the world of science. Tens of scientists visit the country every year solely to work with this species. There is still great potential for discovering more using guppies, not just in terms of the \u2018blue sky\u2019 research of evolution and behaviour, but also in the real world, for example, by helping us predict and manage invasive species.\r\n\r\nWhen Lechmere Guppy caught that specimen near his home in 1866, he could never have predicted that more than 150 years later, scientists would still be studying this fascinating little fish!\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sta.uwi.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/Dr-Amy-Deacon.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\r\n\r\nDr Amy Deacon is a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, whose research focuses on biodiversity, freshwater ecosystems, invasive species, and behavioural ecology.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uwi-scientists-speaks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n