Glasbelly guppies do not produce guanine due to a genetic peculiarity – this is the silver dye that makes fish glisten. This makes them more or less transparent, as the guanine normally reflects the light and prevents transparency like a mirror. Mostly Glasbelly guppies are bred as albinos. If the black melanin also falls away, the view becomes perfect.
Not everyone likes albinos and therefore there are other established Glassbelly strains, but almost all are blonde, yellow-red in colour. We have now received a number of Glasbelly smoke guppies from a German breeder for the first time. They lack guanine, but not melanin. We think they are distinctive animals and also very vital.
The line was created by mating a normal coloured male with an albino glassbelly female. The young were all wild-coloured, i.e. with normal guanine expression, so the genes of the father were dominant as expected. However, according to Mendel’s rules, the second generation produced a proportion of glass belly with black eyes from which the „Red Smoke“ was bred. The strain isn’t fully bred yet, but that doesn’t matter. For ornamental fish breeding, it is a well-known fact that the path is the goal!
For our customers: the animals have code 419091 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale. Only available in limited quantities!
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
