Orange gravid spot on platie?

[musicman]

I have been watching my platies closley over the last couple of days and one of my females has a feature that my others don't. Just ahead of the anal fin (where I think the gravid spot is on females) there is a orange spot visible from both sides.

The fish is a silver and cream colored mickey mouse platie. It seemed to be an unusual color so I figured I should ask. Is my platie pregnant? It is certanly the biggest of the lot.

I have never bread platies before and don't know what to expect. I hope someone can help me out.

 

[SammiYoung]

Sounds to me like she is definatly pregnant....the gravid spot can be either redish/oraangish or black...wait a few days and you might be able to see little black dots in there which are the eyes...A pic would really help to determine how far along she is. Are you planning on keeping the fry or let nature take its course? cause the other fish and the mother will eat the fry if you dont put her in a birthing tank a couple days before she gives birth. They are usually pregnant for 4 weeks on average. Again a picture would help a lot Also, If you are planning on keeping the fry, you will want a bigger tank than a 5 gallon, as she could produce as many as 1-30approx. fry's depending on maturity and her size. Hope this helps

 

[musicman]

I don't have a sutible way to post pictures right now, so I will do my best to describe. I will take some pictures to post later.

The gravid spot has gotten larger with more reddish/orangish color. It has the little black dots, two or three. The most telling sign is that she has gotten huge! Definately pregnant. I am expecting her to give birth within the next few days.

I am going to let nature take its course. I don't have space to raise fry, and cannot afford to make the space. I would like to raise them eventually.

 

[SammiYoung]

goodluck

 

[meegosh]

I would expect the female's gravid spot to become completely black. Not just a few spots here and there, I'm talking dark black. If you are looking to keep the population down, feed some to your betta, he'll love the live food.

 

[SammiYoung]

my platys gravid spot never went black and thats what fooled me and she ended up having her fry in the community tank....i managed to save 2 fry from my hungry fish lol

 

[thatmagicguy]

The gravid spot is actually the fishes' peritoneum. This is a connective tissue sac where the stomach and intestines and reproductive organs can be found and in many livebearers can be seen. In many livebearers there are black chromatophores which cause a black color. You can see this especially in wild colored swordtails and in some lighter platys. Of course when a fish is preganant and near delivery this tissue is expanded and in some cases you can even see the eyes of the unborn fish. But the "gravid spot" is still there, pregnant or not. In some cases there is no black pigment and the gravid spot will have a different pigment causing confusion, but it nevertheless is still there. In some varieties of swordtails and platys the males have well pronounced black pigmented gravid spots. This can be confusing for the inexperienced aquarist as sexing gets confusing when they see a male sex organ and a gravid spot on the same fish. Variatus platys often show this feature. Bill

 

[meegosh]

Cool stuff, thanks for setting me straight Bill. I would've never known. My female guppies always turned a real dark black right before they dropped. Very interesting, thanks again!