Solid Color Strains
Moscow: deep solid color (blue, black, green, purple) covering the entire body. Moscow Blue is the most prized — pure metallic blue with no patterning.
Albino Red: red body with white eyes. Less hardy than colored strains; needs warmer water and softer environment.
Half-Black: front half pale, back half black. Multiple sub-strains (Half-Black AOC, Half-Black Pastel, etc).
Pattern Strains
Cobra: snakeskin body pattern with metallic sheen. King Cobra, Lace Cobra, Tiger Cobra are subtypes.
Snakeskin: similar to Cobra but with finer reticulated pattern across body and fins.
Tuxedo: contrasting black/dark "vest" on the rear half of the body. Works with many base colors.
Mosaic: multicolored speckled pattern on tail with no defined order.
- ✦Patterns can take 2-3 generations to fix in offspring.
- ✦Crossing strains usually produces mixed-pattern fry.
Tail Type Strains
Delta: large triangular tail (the show standard).
Veiltail: long flowing tail.
Lyretail: split tail with two long points.
Round: short rounded tail (typical of feeder guppies).
Sword: extended top or bottom ray of the tail (Top-Sword, Bottom-Sword, Double-Sword).
Endler and Hybrids
Endlers (Poecilia wingei) are a related species to guppies (P. reticulata). They are smaller, more brightly colored, and breed prolifically. "Endler hybrid" guppies are crosses — they retain some endler color but grow guppy-sized.
Pure Endler "N-class" males are highly prized in the hobby; cross-breed K-class are common in stores.