Please help identify this Guppy tail type

Marginatus

Please could you have a look at these pics to see if you can identify what tail type this is?

I thought it may be the early stages of a Merah tail development or partial expression of it but for various reasons I don't think it is now.

I had two Fish with tails like this but I lost one although not before I bred from it.

Sorry about the quality of the pics, I included lots of them to give you the best chance of identification, thanks.

kitten_penang

i think it's just jagged.you'll have to wait and see if the tail grows back, which i think it will but it will take some time.
a merah or swallow tail has different characteristic then what your Guppy is showing in it's tail. the tails are rounded with extra long fins that grow out in certain areas of the tail but the shape of the tail can be clearly seen and it doesn't look jagged like yours.

Marginatus

I'm sure it's not Merah or Swallow tail now but I'm also pretty sure that it's genetic. When I first got both Fish the tails were a little rough on the rear edge, as they grew the tails became increasingly jagged. I'm sure it's not disease or damage...none of the other (unrelated) Fish have shown anything like this and it's developed very gradually over time.

I may be being overly optimistic but I think this might be a 'new' gene...possibly come about through the fact that these Fish are hybrids. The only way to tell for sure is to keep breeding and see what happens I suppose.

kitten_penang

looks more of a leopard Guppy. we will only know for sure if you can create a whole batch with that characteristic.

Chicklet

I've had those same types, Came in my Snakeskin strain I had,
I really didn't like the small caudal or the unevenness of the spiked ending,
The small dorsal fin is also common in Snakeskins

I culled them all out,
however a person may be able to work with them and bring out the desired traits you want over generations.

kitten_penang

it's a defect then.

Marginatus

You could say that every tail type that isn't wild type is a defect, Guppy breeding is almost entirely about developing mutations...just like it is with breeding Goldfish and even Cats and Dogs.

I realise the caudal fin is short, I also have stock ready to improve that if I manage to breed it into future generations.

Why did you cull them out Chicklet? It seems a strange thing to do.

Chicklet

Not strange at all really,
That's apart of what makes this hobby what it is,
We each see our own set of potentials in a fish and either decide we like what we see and wish to expand on it or not,

I had other types I much preferred over these guys, and tank space does pose a problem sometimes :)
So I made my call and culled them out.

Marginatus

Apologies Chicklet, the way I put it sounded a little rude.

I understand why you did it, I just thought it might be an idea to develop it and see where it went.

I also understand that not everyone is going to like it and it is technically a fault under most Guppy show rules as are Swallow tails and Merahs.

I'll crack on with the breeding and keep you posted with the results, hopefully I can create an attractive and uniformed pattern rather than it looking like a damaged or diseased fin. I've heard that some breeders of spadetails cull up to 90% of even well established lines to get the correct shape so this could be a lengthy and frustrating process.

Chicklet

No apology necessary, I like straight forwardness and to the point, nothing rude about that in my book :)

I wish you lots of luck and success, It's always exciting messing with guppies and seeing where one can go.