Poecilia reticulata
Peters, 1859 · speciesAt a glance
Sources13 archives
Databases and archives Poecilia reticulata's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation21 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility9 685 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System1 148 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI387 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics338 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The guppy (), also known as millionfish and rainbow fish, is one of the world's most widely distributed tropical fish and one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae and, like almost all American members of the family, is live-bearing. Guppies originate from northeast South America, but have been introduced to many environments and are now found all over the world. They are highly adaptable and thrive in many different environmental and ecological conditions. Male guppies, which are smaller than females, have ornamental caudal and dorsal fins. Wild guppies generally feed on a variety of food sources, including benthic algae and aquatic insect larvae. Guppies are used as a model organism in the fields of ecology, evolution, and behavioural studies.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology1
Life cycle & reproduction2
Habitat & environment3
Uses & economy1
Other traits1
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Poecilia reticulata has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
Besides the big genome in the nucleus, cells carry a small, circular loop of DNA inside the cell's energy factories — the mitochondria. It is inherited almost only from the mother and is a leftover from ancient bacteria that moved into the cell. The mitochondrial markers above (ND*, COX, CYTB…) are read from exactly this loop. Outer ring = one strand, inner ring = the other.
The complete instruction manual Poecilia reticulata carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type10 833 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions27 of 88 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Kagoshima University Museumlocation not on record | 1 613 |
| Instituto de Biodiversidad de Venezuela - INBIOlocation not on record | 361 |
| INMAlocation not on record | 312 |
| Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 180 |
| Cambridge, US | 147 |
| Celsia Colombia S.A. E.S.P.(CELSIA)location not on record | 139 |
| Londrina, BR | 127 |
| PUC-RSlocation not on record | 112 |
| Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulolocation not on record | 109 |
| UEMlocation not on record | 99 |
| Geneva, CH | 97 |
| Bonn, DE | 92 |
| Universidad del Tolima (UT)location not on record | 88 |
| Mexico City, MX | 76 |
| Champaign, US | 72 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 69 |
| National Museums of Kenyalocation not on record | 69 |
| Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Natural History Collectionlocation not on record | 67 |
| South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record | 66 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 65 |
| Tempe, US | 59 |
| Instituto para la Investigación y la Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural del Valle del Cauca - INCIVAlocation not on record | 56 |
| UNICAMPlocation not on record | 56 |
| Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja Californialocation not on record | 54 |
| USP-RPlocation not on record | 52 |
| Natick, US | 48 |
| Washington, US | 47 |
| Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ)location not on record | 45 |
| Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH)location not on record | 42 |
| Toronto, CA | 36 |
| UFMSlocation not on record | 33 |
| FishBaselocation not on record | 33 |
| Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Moreloslocation not on record | 32 |
| CASlocation not on record | 31 |
| Morelia, MX | 31 |
| University of Texas Biodiversity Collections (UTBC)location not on record | 27 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 27 |
| Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record | 25 |
| Chicago, US | 24 |
| Juriquilla, MX | 23 |
| Royal Museum for Central Africalocation not on record | 23 |
| Universidad Católica de Oriente (UCO)location not on record | 18 |
| DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 18 |
| San Nicolás de los Garza, MX | 16 |
| Universidad de Caldas (UCaldas)location not on record | 14 |
| Montgomery, US | 14 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 13 |
| Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA)location not on record | 13 |
| Los Angeles, US | 13 |
| Sydney, AU | 13 |
| CAJlocation not on record | 12 |
| Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS)location not on record | 12 |
| ECOINTEGRAL LTDAlocation not on record | 11 |
| Brussels, BE | 10 |
| KSNHMlocation not on record | 10 |
| München, DE | 8 |
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Scienceslocation not on record | 7 |
| UNILAlocation not on record | 7 |
| UFRRJlocation not on record | 7 |
| University of Nebraskalocation not on record | 7 |
| Stockholm, SE | 7 |
| Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)location not on record | 7 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 5 |
| University of California San Diegolocation not on record | 5 |
| Paris, FR | 4 |
| Museo de Ictiología Carlos Arturo Ardila Rodríguez (CAR)location not on record | 4 |
| 4 | |
| Mexico City, MX | 3 |
| Museo de Zoología, Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica (MZUTI)location not on record | 2 |
| La Paz, MX | 2 |
| Fisheries Research Laboratory, Mie Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste S. C.location not on record | 2 |
| National Museum of Natural Sciencelocation not on record | 2 |
| Southeastern Louisiana University, Vertebrate Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Museums Victorialocation not on record | 2 |
| Muséum National d'Histoire Naturellelocation not on record | 2 |
| Western Australian Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| Universidad de La Salle (La Salle)location not on record | 2 |
| Guasave, MX | 1 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 1 |
| University of Alabamalocation not on record | 1 |
| ISUAlocation not on record | 1 |
| National Natural History Collectionslocation not on record | 1 |
| Smithsonianlocation not on record | 1 |
| SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Münchenlocation not on record | 1 |
| Museum national d'Histoire naturellelocation not on record | 1 |
| MNHAHlocation not on record | 1 |
| IAvHlocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Poecilia reticulata was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.