There are dozens of recognized types of fancy guppies, and the variety isn’t random, breeders classify them along several independent traits at once: tail shape, body pattern, color, eye color, and even pectoral fin shape.
A single fish can belong to several categories simultaneously, a Cobra Half-Black Blue Delta Tail is a body pattern, a secondary pattern, a color, and a tail shape, all in one name. This guide walks through every major category with real examples, so you can actually recognize what you’re looking at the next time you see a guppy with an unfamiliar name.
Quick Navigation
➜ Types by Tail Shape
➜ Types by Body Pattern
➜ Types by Tail and Body Pattern Combined
➜ Types by Color
➜ Types by Eye Color
➜ Types by Pectoral Fin
➜ Endler-Guppy Hybrids
➜ What Are “Mutt” Guppies?
➜ Frequently Asked Questions
Types by Tail Shape
Tail shape is usually the first thing anyone notices, and it’s the most common way fancy guppies get sorted into categories at shows and in pet stores.
➜ Veiltail — long, flowing, and pointed, one of the most recognizable fancy tail shapes
➜ Delta (Triangle) — a wide, triangular fan, among the most popular show tail shapes
➜ Fantail — rounded and fan-shaped, less elongated than a delta
➜ Scarftail — flows asymmetrically to one side, like a scarf caught in the wind
➜ Double Swordtail — two pointed extensions, one from the top and one from the bottom of the tail
➜ Top Swordtail — a single pointed extension from the top of the tail only
➜ Bottom Swordtail — the mirror image, a single point extending from the bottom only
➜ Lyretail — top and bottom rays curve outward and elongate, similar to a lyre instrument
➜ Coffertail — a compact, boxy tail shape, rarer than most of the others on this list
➜ Speartail — narrows to a single sharp point, like the tip of a spear
➜ Roundtail — simple and rounded, closest to the wild-type tail shape
➜ Pintail — narrow and elongated, tapering to a fine point
➜ Halfmoon — spreads to roughly a 180-degree fan, one of the most dramatic and sought-after shapes
Types by Body Pattern
Body pattern describes how color and dark pigment are arranged across the fish’s body, independent of tail shape or color itself.
➜ Tuxedo — a dark, contrasting band covers the rear half of the body, like a tuxedo jacket, while the front half stays a different color
➜ Cobra — an intricate, snake-like webbing pattern across the body, prized for how detailed and clean the pattern can get in a well-bred line
➜ Snakeskin — similar concept to Cobra, a fine, scaled webbing pattern, though the two terms are sometimes used loosely to mean the same thing
Types by Tail and Body Pattern Combined
Some patterns specifically describe how the body pattern extends into, or interacts with, the tail.
➜ Glass (Glassbelly) — a real genetic trait, not a marketing name: these guppies don’t produce guanine, the silvery pigment that normally reflects light and keeps a fish opaque. Without it, the body becomes noticeably see-through. Glass guppies are commonly bred as albinos, and a true “see-thru” guppy, lacking guanine, melanin, and the other major pigment cells entirely, exists as a research model fish, not just a hobby curiosity.
➜ Leopard — irregular spotting across the body, similar in concept to leopard markings
➜ Mosaic — a broken, scattered pattern of color across the tail, no two fish quite identical
➜ Lace — a fine, web-like pattern, similar in spirit to Cobra but typically finer and more delicate
Types by Color
Color is where the largest number of named types live, and where show standards get genuinely specific. Most competitive judging splits color guppies into solid, bi-colored, and multi-colored classes based roughly on how much of the body a secondary color covers, a fish needs a meaningful, consistent secondary color presence to qualify as bi-colored rather than solid, and several distinct colors to qualify as multi-colored.
➜ Albino — lacks melanin (black pigment) entirely, always paired with red or pink eyes
➜ White — a clean, pale body color, sometimes overlapping with what shows classify as Platinum
➜ Black — solid, deep black across the body
➜ Blue — a metallic blue sheen that comes from iridophores, light-reflecting cells in the skin, rather than a true blue pigment
➜ Neon Blue — a brighter, more saturated version of standard blue
➜ Green — a metallic green, created the same iridophore-based way as blue, just with a different light-reflecting arrangement
➜ Red — solid, vivid red, one of the most popular and widely bred colors
➜ Yellow — solid yellow, less common than red but a recognized show class
➜ Purple — a metallic purple, another iridophore-driven color
➜ Bronze and Golden — warm, metallic tones, distinguished from each other mainly by depth and tone
➜ Half-Black (Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, Purple, Pastel) — the front half of the body is one color, the back half is black, in any of several color combinations
➜ Solid — a single, uniform color with no secondary color or pattern
➜ Bi-Colored — two distinct colors present in meaningful amounts
➜ Multi-Colored — three or more distinct colors on a single fish
➜ Metal — a strong metallic sheen from a high concentration of iridophores, giving the body a reflective, almost polished look
➜ Koi — a red, white, and black or orange pattern, styled after koi fish
➜ Panda — a striking black-and-white pattern, more common and more visible in males
➜ Moscow — solid, deep metallic color, especially prized in purple, blue, and green
➜ Platinum — a bright, pearlescent white or silver body
➜ Dragon Head — a mutation that lets the bright, metallic “Japan Blue” trait show up specifically on the head, rather than just the body or tail, often combined with other traits for a dramatic overall look
➜ Lazuli — a light blue strain, mainly developed by Japanese breeders, where the trait is carried on the Y chromosome, meaning it passes from father to son but isn’t reliably visible in females
Types by Eye Color
Eye color is its own small classification, separate from body color entirely, and one of the more genuinely rare categories.
➜ Real Red Eye (RRE) — vivid red eyes without carrying the albino gene at all, a distinct genetic trait from albinism. RRE guppies trace back to early 20th-century Germany, originally produced by crossing albino guppies with other red-colored strains, and tend to run smaller in body size than most other fancy types. Modern genetic research has identified a gene called OCA2 as a likely driver of the red-eyed trait in domestic guppies.
➜ Real Red Eye Albino (RREA) — combines the red-eye trait with true albinism, producing pink eyes alongside a typically pale or softly colored body, often paired with patterns like Snakeskin or Lace
Types by Pectoral Fin
A rarer classification based on the side pectoral fins rather than the tail or dorsal fin.
➜ Dumbo Ear — enlarged pectoral fins that flare out from the sides of the body, resembling ears, available across many different colors and patterns, but never especially common in stores
Endler-Guppy Hybrids
Some fancy-looking fish sold as “Endlers” aren’t pure Endlers at all. Endlers and guppies are close enough genetically to cross and produce fully fertile offspring, and these hybrids are sold under names like Peacock, Tiger, Snake, Paradise, Sword, or Flame Tail Endler. The Tiger Endler, for example, is a documented cross between an Endler and the Galaxy Medusa guppy strain. Serious Endler breeders track lineage carefully to avoid diluting pure lines, using a grading system: N Class are documented, pure Endlers; P Class look identical but have no verified pedigree; K Class are confirmed hybrids with guppy ancestry. If you specifically want a true Endler rather than a guppy hybrid sold under an Endler name, buying from a breeder who can document N Class lineage is the only reliable way to know.
What Are “Mutt” Guppies?
“Mutt” is the informal term for fish culled from a breeder’s line because they don’t show the trait the breeder was selecting for. There’s nothing wrong with a mutt guppy, it’s healthy and often still attractive, it just doesn’t match a recognized strain closely enough to be sold or shown as one. Mutts are also exactly what happens when a fancy line is left to breed unmanaged for several generations, colors and patterns gradually mix and drift, which is why maintaining a named strain takes deliberate, ongoing line-breeding rather than just letting fish breed freely. Our guppy breeding guide covers how that management actually works.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many types of fancy guppies are there?
There’s no single fixed number, since breeders are constantly developing new color and pattern combinations, but most classification systems recognize well over 50 named types across tail shape, body pattern, color, eye color, and fin shape.
What’s the difference between Cobra and Snakeskin guppies?
They describe a very similar fine, web-like body pattern, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Where breeders do distinguish them, Cobra typically refers to a more intricate, detailed version of the pattern.
What is a glass guppy?
A guppy with a genetic trait that prevents it from producing guanine, the pigment that normally makes a fish’s body reflective and opaque. Without it, the body becomes noticeably see-through. They’re commonly bred as albinos.
Are Dumbo Ear guppies rare?
They’re uncommon in general pet stores, since the large pectoral fins are difficult to breed reliably, but they’re not the rarest type out there, specialty breeders carry them in multiple colors.
What’s the rarest fancy guppy eye color?
Real Red Eye (RRE) and Real Red Eye Albino (RREA) guppies are the most distinct eye-color categories, and RRE specifically is considered genuinely rare since it’s a separate genetic trait from albinism rather than a byproduct of it.
Is an Endler the same as a fancy guppy?
No, Endlers are a separate species, though closely related, and the two can crossbreed. Many fish sold in stores as “Endlers” are actually Endler-guppy hybrids rather than pure Endlers.
Final Thoughts
The sheer number of fancy guppy types can look overwhelming at first, but it breaks down cleanly once you separate tail shape, body pattern, color, eye color, and fin shape as independent categories rather than one big list. Most fish you’ll actually encounter combine two or three of these traits at once, which is exactly what gives the hobby its near-endless variety. For the full picture of fancy guppy care beyond classification, see our fancy guppy guide.
