Recently we developed the Snakeskin Orchid Endler Strain. We were able to create this strain due to a variation in one male N Class Orchid Endler.
This N Class Orchid Endler was the progeny of N Class Orchid Endlers we received from AdrianHD in the year 2013.
We raised thousands of Orchid Endlers. Rather than just letting our fish breed randomly we remove the males from our breeding tanks to help us control our breeding stock.
From these males we select those males that exhibit the most intense colors and most striking markings. This careful selection process helps us produce some of the most beautiful Orchid Endlers available today.
In the year 2014 we were making the selection process and found a male Orchid Endler that was quite different from our other male Orchid Endlers.
In the rear portion of the Endler where Orchid Endlers usually exhibit a metallic green patch was the same metallic green patch we would expect to see however there was a unique snakeskin pattern over the area that extended into the caudal (tail) fin.
At that time we had not yet started raising any other fish other than N Class Orchid Endlers and N Class Lime Green Endlers. We also are careful to keep individual strains of Endlers on their own rack (Endlers love to jump from tank to tank).
Up until this time most Endlers with these type of snakeskin patterns near the tail where created by hybridizing Endlers with guppies. We knew that there was no way this male was produced by hybridization or any kind of cross breeding because it came from our N Class Orchid Endler stock and there was no guppies or other fish available anywhere in the building to create a hybrid. This unique male was the result of a natural mutation or what is known as a variation.
This was one of the most beautiful Endlers we had ever seen so we were eager to see if we could line breed this male and produce a new and unique strain.
At first we saw no results from our efforts. Later we found that the unique patterns were one of the last features developed on the males. These males looked like the original Orchid Endler however as they aged they would develop the unique markings that we found in our original male.
We continued our line breeding efforts until we felt the strain was very stable. We have been very happy with the line breeding efforts. The males all develop the unique snakeskin pattern however they continue to have their own unique colorations and patterns as well making each male unique. This is similar to the original strain, Orchid Endlers.
Because the males are all slightly different we have been fortunate to find males that were even more beautiful than our original male giving us the opportunity to improve this already beautiful strain.