Moskauer

Die Moskauer stammen aus der Stadt mit gleichem Namen, kamen nach Ostdeutschland und verbreiteten sich von dort aus in die ganze Welt. Die erste Erwähnung des Stammes erschien in N.A. Vasilievs Artikel im Jahr 1957. Ein Artikel über den Moskauer wurde im russischen Journal „Fish Culture and Fishery“ im Jahr 1971 (Nr. 6) von N. Vasiliev, F. Polkanov veröffentlicht.
In Tsutsui's Guppy Base Book Vol. 1, in einem Artikel namens "Moscow Blue" beginning on page 16, schrieb Tsutsui : "Ich konnte diesen Stamm im Herbst (29. October) o1996 erwerben. Nachdem ich ihn an meine Becken gewöhnt hatte, sah ich etwas ganz Besonderes. Ich wunderte mich sehr über die Blauen Moskauer, da ich ihr genetisches Make-up nicht kannte. Das Mimbon Aquarium in Deutschland verschiffte ursprünglich die ersten blauen Moskauer an einen japanischen Großhändler".


Characteristics
Although the original Moscows were half-body snakeskin, today most people consider a Moscow to be a solid-colored guppy, including a colored head.
The Blue Moscow is the most common form, although the Green Moscow is also plentiful. Blue and Green Moscows are essentially the same. Green Moscows just have a lot of yellow color cells in the top layer of the skin. Purple Moscows have plentiful red color cells. Some breeders have even developed the Moskauer Rot.
The other distinguishing characteristic of Moscows is a black component to the color. This causes variation in Moscow coloring from light blue (or other pigment color) to a dark version of that color. The black component can become so dark as to produce a Moskauer Schwarz. However, true Black Moscows have been developed using half-black and three-quarter black guppies. (Moscows normally do not have half-black or three-quarter black alleles.)
What sets apart "normal" Moscow black is its highly motile pigment, meaning the black pigment aggregates to the center of the cell and disperses to the cell periphery under stress or other environmental conditions. This gives the Moscow its famous chameleon quality, where it can vary from a light grey to a much darker black. Black Moscows do not tend to have this motile black color. They never lose the deep blackness of their color.

Genetics
There is no single Moscow gene.
The colored head, forebody and streaks and dots in the caudal are due to a Y-linked gene. It appears to be close to the SDR (sex determining region) because there has not been a confirmed case of a female who passes on the trait to her sons or daughters.
The black component of the body color appears to be under different genetic control, either an x-linked or (more likely) an autosomal gene.


To get a good idea of what the Moscow looks like without its solid black component, look at what happens when you "knock out" the normal black component with the double recessive golden mutation (called Bronze in the U.S., Gold in Europe and Tiger in Asia).

Comments
Philip Shaddock
The Moscow is a particularly good guppy to use in crosses. About two-thirds of the strains in my fish room trace back to Hawaiian Blue Moscows. In crossing to Magentas, Stoerzbach Metals, American Half-Black greens with the Onyx allele and Pink guppies, I have been able to create an incredible variety of strains while keeping them cross-compatible.


Moskauer Silber Tiger
Früher Moskauer