One-year-old
and
Sexy |
 |
The throbbing, electric pulse of sexual maturity coursed in the eye-marked guppy's colorful body. He was almost a year old now and was completely grown. Pink, metallic scales covered his head and fat belly; at the plump crease where his belly stopped, began the shading of a strong, vivid blue.
Darkening through the torso area and flowing deep through his long tail membrane, this peacock-blue coloring formed a graceful shape, resembling a painted Egyptian eye, the pupil of which glittered ruby red in the sunlight.
His whole body was sprinkled with luminous pearl-pink scales, and the long, luxurious tail was bordered with this same pearl-pink coloring. His proud dorsal fin held the blue eye in miniature, and his little pectorals were a bright, light pink.
The male had been breeding for eight and one-half months with the numerous females in the guppy school and had sired numerous progeny. The fact that he had also consumed a great many of his own offspring made little difference. He was ignorant of bloodlines and relations, and he caught and ate many things indiscriminately. The abundance of his offspring compensated for the loss.
He spent much of his time with a striking young female of the same age, perhaps because he was attracted somehow by the deep blue coloring of her fan of a tail, it being almost the same shade of blue as himself.
Most of the females in the school showed faint color in their tails, but in the blue-tailed female, the color genes had doubled up from inbreeding and produced an unusual combination. The front of her body was a shiny, bright gold.
Playing in the water, mating, and searching diligently for food, the healthy young pair made a glorious sight as the sun glinted off their bodies, reflecting sparks of radiant light into the air above Orchid Pond.
The golden female had birthed two groups of fry already, and her healthy, plump body bore testimony of many to come. Some of the offspring had shown early signs of extraordinary coloration, and the older of her male progeny could be identified by the blue markings they carried. Here and there, interspersed within the kaleidoscope of the guppy school, flashes of blue and gold twinkled, proving the fecundity of the two parent fish.
Happily they swam, riding the ripples at the surface in grateful acceptance of the gift of life beneath the orchid rainbow hovering above.
(c) 1993 Carson Clippard