The species was first collected from Laguna de Patos in Venezuela by Franklyn F. Bond in 1937, and rediscovered by Dr. John Endler in 1975.

However, in 2009 S. Schories, M. K. Meyer and M. Schartl published on the basis of molecular data that Poecilia wingei is a separated taxon at the species level from P. reticulata and P.

Most P. wingei from the Campoma region found in the hobby today are descended from those originally collected by Phil Voisin (Philderodez).

Most P. Wingei from the Cumana region found in the hobby today are descended from those collected by Armando Pau and were line bred and distributed to hobbyists by Adrian Hernandez (AdrianHD).

Karen Koomans obtained a Staeck guppy male from the Hamburg University and identified it as pure Poecilia reticulata.

Karen Koomans crossed this Staeck guppy male with a 'Yellow Top Sword' Endler female.

[7][8] The original japan blue wild type guppy was a Poecilia reticulata collected from Lac du Rorata.

Karen Koomans received a single male japan blue guppy and crossed it with Cumana Endler females to preserve the strain.

In addition, as P. reticulata has been found in the same bodies of water as P. wingei, natural hybridization may also occur in the wild.

[citation needed] Hybridization with fancy guppy strains (selectively bred P. reticulata) often produces bright and colourful offspring.

This has led to some hybrids being selectively bred themselves and becoming so common that they may be sold under any number of names such as peacock, snake, tiger, paradise, fancy, or sword Endler and sometimes as flame tail.

Though Poecilia wingei are hardy and undemanding as far as survival goes, proper aquascaping, diet, water parameters, tank mates, along with many other factors such as male to female ratios will determine the strength and appearance of a line.

Breeders have developed numerous lines displaying specific patterns and colors, such as red chest, black bar, peacock, yellow sword, etc.